BC Liberal Government Moves to Reduce Sale of Tobacco to Minors

March 20, 2006

VICTORIA – Changes to the Tobacco Sales Act introduced will improve compliance with the Tobacco Sales Act and in particular, better prevent youth access to tobacco products.

“Tobacco use continues to be the number one cause of preventable death and disease in the province,” said Health Minister George Abbott. “With the introduction of new legislation, British Columbia will become the first province to have an administrative process that can impose financial penalties for contraventions of tobacco legislation. These changes help avoid potentially lengthy and costly court processes.”

The Tobacco Sales (Preventing Youth Access to Tobacco) Amendment Act, 2006, will:

  • Provide clarification as to what retailers must do to determine the age of purchasers of tobacco products.
  • Ensure tobacco enforcement officials are provided with updated information about places where tobacco is being sold.
  • Allow violations to the Act to be handled effectively and efficiently through an administrative penalty process rather than the court system.

Other changes will ensure harmonization between the Tobacco Sales Act and Tobacco Tax Act, and reduce the risk of black market tobacco sales.

“Young people are very unlikely to start using tobacco if they haven’t started using tobacco by the age of 19,” said Provincial Health Officer Dr. Perry Kendall. “Timely penalties for non-compliant retailers and clearer guidelines for tobacco sales will go a long way to ensuring the youth of B.C. have restricted access to these addictive and harmful products.” 

“The BC Healthy Living Alliance has advocated improved compliance with restrictions on tobacco sales to minors,” said Suzanne Allard Strutt, chair of the BC Healthy Living Alliance. “We are very pleased that this government is showing leadership in putting forth these changes and we urge everyone to support this initiative so that we can reach our target of having nine out of 10 British Columbians living smoke free.”

“These amendments are an important step in government’s broader tobacco control strategy and ActNow BC, which aims to make British Columbia the healthiest jurisdiction ever to host an Olympic and Paralympic Games,” said Abbott. “Reducing youth access to tobacco requires tough laws that are efficiently and effectively enforced.”