Abstract:
In Ontario 27% of young adults smoke, and annual surveillance data suggests tobacco use
is plateauing after years of decline. The availability of inexpensive contraband tobacco
products maybe contributing to this situation. Limited research has been conducted on the
use of contraband tobacco and despite the increasing availability of contraband 'Native
cigarettes', no studies to date have examined their use among young adults. Accordingly,
this study examines: (a) what proportion of cigarette butts discarded on post-secondary
campuses are contraband; and (b) whether the proportion of contraband butts varies
between colleges and universities, across seven geographical regions in the province and
based on proximity First Nations reserves. In March and April 2009, discarded cigarette
butts were collected from the grounds of 25 post-secondary institutions across Ontario. At
each school, cigarette butts were collected on a single day from four locations. The
collected cigarette butts were reliably sorted into five categories according to their filtertip logos: legal, contraband First NationslNative cigarettes, international and suspected
counterfeit cigarettes, unidentifiable and unknown. Contraband use was apparent on all
campuses, but varied considerably from school to school. Data suggest that contraband
Native cigarettes account for as little as 1 % to as much as 38 % of the total cigarette
consumption at a particular school. The highest proportion of contraband was found on
campuses in the Northern part of the province. Consumption of Native contraband was
generally higher on colleges compared to universities. The presence of contraband
tobacco on all campuses suggests that strategies to reduce smoking among young adults
must respond to this cohort's use of these products.
