Why is B.C. the last province in Canada to allow cigarette sales in drugstores?

Why is B.C. the last province in Canada to allow cigarette sales in drugstores?

B.C. has been the outlier since Manitoba banned tobacco sales in pharmacies 13 years ago

Should you still be able to buy cigarettes in British Columbia drugstores?

It's a question that prompted a testy exchange in the B.C. Legislature earlier this week.

"Cigarette smoke has over 70 known carcinogens in it," anti-smoking advocate Leo Levasseur told CBC's On the Island on Wednesday. "Is this something that should be sold in a drugstore?"

Ontario banned tobacco sales in pharmacies in 1994, and the other provinces and territories have since followed suit. When Manitoba implemented a ban in 2013, B.C. became the last province in Canada to allow the practice.

Levasseur, who lost three people in his life to smoking-related illnesses, including his father who had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, has been raising questions about the issue for over a decade.

He says successive B.C. governments have failed to give a satisfying answer.

He says it doesn't make sense for pharmacies to receive public funding for smoking cessation programs while still continuing to sell cigarettes.

"I just think it's wrong," he said.

On Tuesday, Saanich North and the Islands Green MLA Rob Botterell raised the issue during question period in the B.C. Legislature, saying he had written to the health minister on behalf of Levasseur last year.

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"We later received the health minister's response," Botterell told the House.

"Nada, no, nyet, non, c'est impossible. We refuse to adjust this policy. But get this, we're committed to reducing tobacco and nicotine related harms through provincial policies. Empty words."

Health Minister Josie Osborne responded that the province remains committed to lowering smoking rates.

"Pharmacies also provide aids for cessation of smoking and [an] important part of that is the ability for a person to be able to have the contact with the pharmacist and a person in order to be able to have those conversations," Osborne said.

"Further, that we have taken significant action against tobacco corporations, resulting in large settlements that come back here to British Columbia to be invested into health care."

Osborne added that B.C. currently has the lowest rate of smoking in Canada.

According to the 2022 Canadian Tobacco and Nicotine Survey, 8.7 per cent of people aged 15 and older smoked in B.C. at that time — below the 10.9 per cent national average.

Last year, the province announced it would receive $3.7 billion over 18 years in a settlement with large tobacco companies, to be used to promote smoking cessation and for cancer treatment and research.

In 2014, the College of Pharmacists of British Columbia considered amending its bylaws to prohibit tobacco sales.

That proposal faced pushback from retail chain pharmacies, which argued the college was overstepping its authority. The initiative was ultimately abandoned.

In a statement this week, the college acknowledged health concerns about tobacco, and said it remains open to working with the B.C. government on regulatory changes if the province is interested.

Levasseur said London Drugs remains the last major pharmacy chain selling tobacco in B.C.

In a statement, London Drugs acknowledged the harms associated with smoking, and said it believes tobacco should only be sold in environments "where there is meaningful access to healthcare support."

"In our stores, tobacco purchases are paired with access to trained pharmacists, cessation counselling, educational resources, and proven quit aids," the company said.

"We are concerned that removing tobacco from pharmacy settings may reduce opportunities for those interventions and shift purchases to retail environments without healthcare supports."

Loblaw, which operates Shoppers Drug Mart, said it stopped selling tobacco over five years ago, while Rexall did not respond to a request for comment.

Levasseur says he won't give up his campaign.

"They're going to keep hearing from me," he said. "This is my cause and something's got to be done about this."

Simon Little is an award-winning online journalist with CBC News based in Vancouver, B.C. He is passionate about local and breaking news, politics and current affairs and is an avid cyclist who has travelled by bicycle through 13 countries. You can email him at Simon.Little@cbc.ca.