Tough Law gets Desired Results Bedford Sackville Weekly (07/02/08)

It's always the young people who can best predict the future.

Several years ago, a young cabinet minister named Rodney MacDonald did something that no one paid much attention to. He headed up a new project called the Department of Health Promotion.

In 2000, our future did not look bright. Nova Scotia had the highest smoking rate among youth in the country at 31 per cent. Smoking related illnesses and cancers were on the rise.

As Canada's first minister of health promotion, MacDonald earned a reputation for creating policies promoting healthy living that larger provinces would later copy.

He launched the toughest anti-smoking laws in Canada at the time. Now, seven years later, our youth smoking rates are the lowest in the country, with only 12 per cent of young people taking up the bad habit.

The major report on our healthcare system released on Jan. 17 stated that fighting preventable illnesses such as those caused by smoking is critical to our ability to continue to have the top quality healthcare we enjoy.

These illnesses cost our healthcare system $170 million a year and cost our economy $396 million annually in productivity losses due to premature death and sick leave.

It is of vital importance to Nova Scotia that we embark on a healthcare plan now that will pay off for us in the future.

Thank you to all of our young people who have rejected smoking. You are making a wise choice. I predict that all of our futures in Nova Scotia are brighter because of you.