Knowledge exchange webinars

Overview

Thanks to several decades of effort by the tobacco control community, a large majority of the public is aware of the health risks of exposure to second-hand smoke from tobacco.  In contrast, many of the public assumes that marijuana second-hand smoke is benign, mostly because they mistake a lack of evidence of harm, for evidence of lack of harm.  We will discuss how the effects of marijuana second-hand smoke on blood vessels compare to that from tobacco, and the implications of these findings for public health policy.

Presenter

Dr. Matthew L. Springer received his B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1985 and his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1992.  He did postdoctoral research at Stanford and continued his research there as a senior scientist until joining the UCSF faculty in 2003, where he is currently one of two non-clinicians on the faculty of the Division of Cardiology.  His research interests include cell and gene therapy for cardiovascular diseases, and how vascular function is impaired by second-hand smoke from tobacco and marijuana.  He is a member of UCSF’s FDA/CTP Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science and the UCSF Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, and is on the Associate Editorial Board for the journal Tobacco Regulatory Science.    

Overview

The risks of tobacco use are widely known, but we know far less about co-occurring marijuana and tobacco use. Legalization of recreational marijuana presents potential opportunities to more effectively treat multiple addictions, create cross-cutting policy, and provide integrated public health messaging. This presentation will encourage dialogue regarding what we know and don’t know about the intersection of nicotine dependence and marijuana use, and how integrated approaches might optimize care delivery and treatment outcomes.

Presenter

Chad Morris, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. In 2006, he created the Behavioral Health & Wellness Program which is a multidisciplinary center of excellence for public policy, research, training, and clinical care. He has worked with over 40 U.S. states and internationally to foster sustainable whole health and tobacco control initiatives for priority populations.

Overview

Findings of a qualitative participatory study to inform the design and development of a stop smoking program for Indigenous fathers will be described. Information about the resulting 10 week program, web-based resources, and facilitator training program will be shared. Suggestions for community implementation will also be presented. 

Presenters

Dr. Joan L. Bottorff is a Professor in the School of Nursing at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus, and Director of UBC’s Institute for Healthy Living and Chronic Disease Prevention. Her research program focuses on development of gender-sensitive interventions to support cancer prevention and health promotion.

Dr. John L. Oliffe is a Professor and Associate Director Research at the School of Nursing, University of British Columbia. Lead investigator of UBC’s Men’s Health Research program, his work focuses on masculinities as it influences men’s health behaviors and illness management, and its impact on partners, families and overall life quality.

Dr. Gayl Sarbit is a Knowledge Broker at the Institute for Healthy Living and Chronic Disease Prevention at the University of British Columbia in Kelowna. She is an experienced educator with a MEd and PhD in educational leadership. Her current research activities focus on men’s health promotion in the areas of smoking cessation, healthy eating, and active living.

Overview

Canada’s largest tobacco manufacturers have done away with the middleman and distribute their products directly to retailers. This has given manufacturers greater leverage over retailers, meaning only those that do as they are told (through contracts and programs) can sell tobacco at competitive prices or sell certain selected brands.  Through retailing agreements, prizes and other programs, manufacturers make retailers carry out their price segmentation strategy, with discount brands often selling several dollars less than premium brands.

The Quebec Coalition for Tobacco Control and Physicians for a Smoke-free Canada have documented and exposed the various programs and pricing schemes that Canada’s large manufacturers are using in Quebec. These pricing practices have enabled cigarette manufacturers to finely modulate prices over time and differentiate them from one neighbourhood to the other.  By maintaining prices artificially low and by playing with the timing of prices increases, cigarette manufacturers can continue to offer cheap cigarettes to the most price-sensitive smokers and soften the shock that tax increases would otherwise have. Both tactics undermine tobacco tax policy as well as the beneficial health impacts they are meant to produce.

Les Hagen will be presenting on tobacco affordability across Canada and tobacco industry efforts to fight tobacco tax increases.  Les will also discuss how low tobacco taxes contribute to health inequities and earmarking tobacco tax revenues for tobacco control activities.

Presenters

Flory Doucas has been the Co-Director and spokesperson with the Quebec Coalition for Tobacco Control for the past 8 years and has been in tobacco control since 2004. She holds a post-graduate diploma in Environmental Health from the Université de Montréal. While she began her career in tobacco control as a one-year maternity contract, her early work with the late Heather Crowe, a remarkable woman, motivated and inspired her remain in tobacco control.

Les Hagen is the Executive Director of Action on Smoking and Health and he is a veteran tobacco control advocate.  Les is also an adjunct professor at the University of Alberta School of Public Health where he teaches a graduate course on public health advocacy. Les has contributed to a number of tobacco control victories in Alberta and Canada including the new national ban on menthol cigarettes. He has received a number of awards over the years including a Meritorious Service Medal from the Governor General of Canada.

Overview

The presentation will provide the methods and results ​of a project deriving​ estimates of reach and effect size of a wide range of policies and interventions aimed at promoting smoking cessation in a form that can be used to estimate the economic return of these interventions. Included are taxation increases, smoke-free policies, mass media campaigns and clinical interventions such as nicotine replacement therapy and varenicline. Issues in the derivation of the estimates will be discussed.
 

Presenter

Robert West is Professor of Health Psychology at University College London. He is Editor-in-Chief of the journal Addiction and has published more than 600 academic works. His research includes population studies of smoking cessation and development and evaluation of smoking cessation interventions. He has co-authored the book, Theory of Addiction.

Overview

Evidence proves that smoking and tobacco imagery in movies causes youth to start using tobacco products.  Youth who are heavily exposed to onscreen smoking imagery are two to three times more likely to begin smoking, compared to youth who are lightly exposed.  To assess the recent extent of tobacco use imagery in youth-rated movies (G, PG, PG-13), data from were analyzed on tobacco incidents in movies from 2010-2016. The study looked at both the number of movies with tobacco use and the number of tobacco incidents in movies that contain tobacco use. The study found that the number of movies with tobacco use went down slightly from 2010 to 2016, but the number of tobacco incidents increased.  From 2010-2016 there was a 72% increase in incidents among all movies and 43% among PG-13 movies.  This means that more tobacco incidents are concentrated into fewer movies. The increase in tobacco incidents in PG-13 movies is of public health concern because these movies are rated as appropriate for youths.

Presenter

Michael Tynan is a public health analyst at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office on Smoking and Health.  Michael works with U.S. states and communities on tobacco control policy issues and is a subject matter expert on tobacco prices, smoke-free polices and point of sale policies.

Overview

Come hear the science on the ways to educate others around the issue of raising the age on tobacco.  Our two presenters promise a lively discussion on the topic that is found in the news of late in Canada.  Numerous municipalities and a couple of states have already increased the age.  

Presenters

Dr. John Oyston has a BMedSci MBBS FRCA FRCP (C).  He is an anesthesiologist at The Scarborough Rouge Hospital in Toronto and an Assistant Professor at theUniversity of Toronto.   He founded Stop Smoking for Safer Surgery a campaign to promote perioperative smoking cessation, and founded Tobacco21.ca.   When he isn’t busy with patients and educating others about tobacco misuse, he keeps himself busy removing invasive species from a 101-acre recreational property, and travelling to cold places like Siberia, Baffin Island, Antarctica and Iceland. Most recently he was found hiking at an altitude of 4,900m  in  the Cordillera Real of Bolivia.

Dr. Smita Pakhale is a clinician-scientist at the Ottawa Hospital and Ottawa Hospital Research Institute with a research focus: inequity. She is leading a community research centre (the Bridge Engagement Centre or the Bridge) in downtown Ottawa where she works in true partnership with the most at-risk inner city population with ‘patient engagement’ at its core. Her projects on tobacco dependence conducted at the Bridge with holistic approach are demonstrating broader outcomes. She is also an active member of the Tobacco Action Committee of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) which published the ATS research statement on tobacco (Leone et al. 2015)  amongst other things on graphic warning labels, retail tobacco sale and Tobacco-21-A Public Health Policy (Pakhale et al. 2014; Farber et al. 2016; Pakhale et al. 2016; Pakhale et al. 2013; Pakhale et al. 2015).

Overview

A step-by-step description of ‘the Ottawa Citizen Engagement and Action Model’, where people with lived experience from the project’s target population (homeless, at-risk for homelessness, multi drug user) participated in every step of the project.

Presenter

Dr. Smita Pakhale is a clinician-scientist at the Ottawa Hospital and Ottawa Hospital Research Institute with a research focus in inequity. She is leading a community research centre (the Bridge Engagement Centre or the Bridge) in downtown Ottawa where she works in true partnership with the most at-risk inner city population, with ‘patient engagement’ at its core. Her projects on tobacco dependence conducted at the Bridge with a holistic approach are demonstrating broader outcomes. She is also an active member of the Tobacco Action Committee of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) which published the ATS research statement on tobacco(Leone et al. 2015), amongst other things on graphic warning labels, retail tobacco sales and Tobacco-21-A Public Health Policy (Pakhale et al. 2014; Farber et al. 2016; Pakhale et al. 2016; Pakhale et al. 2013; Pakhale et al. 2015).

Overview

This research looks at 2 large US databases (1994 and 2013) with a focus on changes in disparity in the smoking behaviors of sexual minority youth.  This webinar will examine the results of changes within the sexual minority youth populations and compared to heterosexual peers.

Presenter

Dr. Stephen S. Michael, DrPH, has over 30 years of experience in Behavioral Health and recently served as the Director of the Arizona Smokers’ Helpline for 8 years.  He recently completed his dissertation with a focus on LGB smoking behaviors.  He continues to serve as an advisor to the Association for Ambulatory Behavioral Healthcare with focus on national benchmarking and outcomes focused improvement.

Overview

Be the first to hear about the impact tobacco bylaws have had on BC communities, the methods BC communities have employed in implementing their bylaws, and municipal responses to the Canadian Cancer Society’s recommendation that the province expand the scope of the Tobacco and Vapour Products Control Act to include outdoor public places. The Canadian Cancer Society will share helpful tools for municipalities that are considering bylaws and the Propel Centre for Population Health Impact will share a sneak preview of findings from interviews with 24 BC jurisdictions.

Presenters

Ornell Douglas is a project manager with the Propel Centre for Population Health Impact at the University of Waterloo. Ornell aims to prevent chronic disease through the use of evidence-informed solutions, relevant and rigorous studies, and program evaluation.

Megan Klitch is a health promotion coordinator and tobacco control lead with the Canadian Cancer Society, BC and Yukon. Megan plans strategies and manages projects designed to educate, shift perceptions, influence behaviours and create supportive environments where healthy choices are easier.