Manitoba urged to use Big Tobacco cash to combat youth addiction
'We need to empower our kids and help them understand how dangerous nicotine is,' said epidemiologist Cynthia Carr, executive director of the Manitoba Tobacco Reduction Alliance.
Ahead of the start of the claims process, Manitoba should prepare to invest some of its estimated $1.1-billion settlement toward prevention efforts targeting youth, she said.
'Punitive approaches don't work,' said Carr, who's with the non-profit whose members include the Canadian Cancer Society, Manitoba Lung Association, University of Manitoba, Pharmacists Manitoba.
'Once you're addicted to something or once you think what your friends are doing is cool, once you think that's a social enabler and you're suddenly popular and part of the crowd because you're doing what everybody else is doing, the fear of punishment is not helpful, ' Carr said.
MIKE SUDOMA / FREE PRESS FILES
Epidemiologist Cynthia Carr said she hopes the province sets aside enough — she suggested $25 million — for a foundation to nip nicotine addiction in the bud.
MIKE SUDOMA / FREE PRESS FILES
Epidemiologist Cynthia Carr said she hopes the province sets aside enough — she suggested $25 million — for a foundation to nip nicotine addiction in the bud.
The Manitoba government is expected to receive $1.119 billion, including $281 million up front, minus legal fees, with the rest paid out from tobacco company profits over the next 20 years, as part of the historic $32.5 billion court-approved settlement in March.
In 2012, Manitoba joined other provinces in a lawsuit against Big Tobacco — Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd., Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc., and JTI-Macdonald Corp., as well as their foreign parent companies — to recover the cost of providing health care for tobacco-related illnesses.
Premier Wab Kinew said last month that Manitoba's settlement money is earmarked for a new CancerCare site.
'We're going to invest every single dollar in curing cancer, in fighting cancer and supporting cancer patients every step of the way,' Kinew said while announcing a new $1-billion CancerCare building.
On Monday, Kinew was attending a premiers meeting in Ontario and wasn't available to comment. His spokesperson said part of the settlement will be spent on prevention.
JENNY KANE / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES
In 2012, Manitoba joined other provinces in a lawsuit against Big Tobacco to recover the cost of providing health care for tobacco-related illnesses.
In 2012, Manitoba joined other provinces in a lawsuit against Big Tobacco to recover the cost of providing health care for tobacco-related illnesses.
Carr said she hopes the province sets aside enough — she suggested $25 million — for a foundation to nip nicotine addiction in the bud.
'The opportunity and the greater good is to take a portion of those monies and invest in prevention, education and empowerment, particularly of our young people, who are of course the targets of these companies that need your money to keep going.'
After the upfront disbursement to the Manitoba government, the balance of the settlement money is to be paid out in five-year increments, depending on the tobacco companies' after-tax profits from tobacco sales.
Carr said that doesn't include alternative nicotine products such as vapes 'that are becoming more and more popular with kids for many reasons.'
The alliance said 26 per cent of youth in grades 10 to 12 and seven per cent of grades 7 to 9 use vaping products, which puts them at risk of nicotine addiction and future tobacco use.
The epidemiologist said she's concerned youth will be at an even greater risk for target marketing of nicotine vapes and pouches.
The $32.5-billion settlement includes nearly $25 billion for provincial and territorial governments.
It also covers more than $4 billion for members of a Quebec class-action lawsuit, and more than $2.5 billion for smokers in other provinces and territories who were diagnosed with lung cancer, throat cancer or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease from March 2015 to March 2019.
Another $1 billion was set aside to establish the Cy-près Foundation to fund research, programs and initiatives focused on improving outcomes in tobacco-related diseases.
'It's not focused on prevention,' Carr said, adding the province could establish a legacy foundation to encourage investment in research, innovation and expertise in Manitoba.
'It's a tiny investment… that will make a massive difference.'
carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
Wednesdays
Columnist Jen Zoratti looks at what's next in arts, life and pop culture.
Carol SandersLegislature reporter
Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol.
Every piece of reporting Carol produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Globe and Mail
2 days ago
- Globe and Mail
South Carolina parents call for safety warnings after son killed by brain-eating amoeba in lake
Two weeks after Jaysen Carr spent the Fourth of July swimming and riding on a boat on one of South Carolina's most popular lakes, he was dead from an amoeba that lives in the warm water and entered his brain through his nose. His parents had no clue the brain-eating amoeba, whose scientific name is Naegleria fowleri, even existed in Lake Murray, just 15 miles (24 kilometres) west of Columbia. They found out when a doctor, in tears, told them the diagnosis after what seemed like a fairly regular headache and nausea took a serious turn. Jaysen, 12, fought for a week before dying on July 18, making him one of about 160 people known to have died from the amoeba in the U.S. in the past 60 years. As they grieve their son, the boy's parents said they were stunned to learn South Carolina, like most other U.S. states, has no law requiring public reporting of deaths or infections from the amoeba. The lake wasn't closed and no water testing was performed. If they hadn't spoken up, they wonder if anyone would have even known what happened. 'I can't believe we don't have our son. The result of him being a child was losing his life. That does not sit well. And I am terrified it will happen to someone else,' Clarence Carr told The Associated Press as his wife sat beside him, hugging a stuffed tiger that had a recording of their middle child's heartbeat. What is the brain-eating amoeba that killed an American boy swimming in a lake? Jaysen loved sports. He played football and baseball. He loved people, too. As soon as he met you, he was your friend, his father said. He was smart enough to have skipped a grade in school and to play several instruments in his middle school band in Columbia. 'He either loved you or he just didn't know you,' his father said. 'He was the type of person who could go to a jump park and five minutes later say, 'This is my friend James.'' Friends invited Jaysen and his family for the Fourth of July holiday weekend on the lake, where Jaysen spent hours swimming, fishing and riding on an inner tube that was being pulled by a boat. 'Mom and Dad, that was the best Fourth of July I've ever had,' Clarence Carr remembered his son telling him. A few days later, Jaysen's head started to hurt. Pain relievers helped. But the next day the headache got worse and he started throwing up. He told the emergency room doctors exactly where he was hurting. But soon he started to get disoriented and lethargic. The amoeba was in his brain, already causing an infection and destroying brain tissue. It entered through his nose as water was forced deep into his nasal passages, possibly from one of the times Jaysen jumped into the water. It then travelled along his olfactory nerve into his brain. The amoeba caused an infection called primary amebic meningoencephalitis. Fewer than 10 people a year get it in the U.S., and over 95% of them die. The last death from the amoeba in South Carolina was in 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The amoeba is fairly common. There is no science-based threshold for what level of the organism in the water would be safe or unsafe, and it would be difficult to test water regularly, the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services said in a statement. Researchers are still trying to figure out why the infections are so rare. Some people have been found to have had antibodies, signalling they may have survived exposure. Others may die from brain swelling and other problems without the amoeba ever being detected. Last year, the CDC started a pilot program of giving infected patients an antibiotic approved for use in Europe that has killed the amoeba in lab studies The amoeba becomes dangerous in water that stays over 77 degrees Fahrenheit (25 degrees Celsius) and for years has been seen almost exclusively in the summer in the southern part of the country. But a few recent cases have popped up in Maryland, Indiana and Minnesota, scientists said. The CDC said 167 cases of the infection have been reported in the U.S. between 1962 and 2024, and only four people have survived. One infection in a body of water doesn't increase the chances of another infection in the same body of water, the CDC said. The amoeba cannot move from one person to another. Boys seem most susceptible, but researchers don't know if that is simply because they are more likely to jump and dive into the water or play in sediment at the bottom of lakes. The amoeba can show up in hot springs, rivers and, on rare occasions, in tap water. That's why doctors recommend using sterile water for cleaning nasal passages with a neti pot. The only way to be completely safe is to not swim in lakes or rivers and, if you do, keep your head above water. Pinching your nose or using nose clips when diving or swimming can keep water out of your nose. As he sat in an intensive care hospital room with his son, Clarence Carr couldn't help but think of all the people on the lake. He wondered if any of them had any clue about the microscopic danger in that water. 'There are entire families out there on pontoon boats, jumping off, just like our kids were having the time of their lives,' he said. 'It very well could be their last moments, and they are unaware of it.'
Globe and Mail
3 days ago
- Globe and Mail
What is the brain-eating amoeba that killed an American boy swimming in a lake?
A 12-year-old boy died from a brain-eating amoeba two weeks after a holiday weekend on a popular South Carolina lake. The brain-eating amoeba enters the body when water is forced up the nose, like when someone jumps or dives in the water. It causes an infection that swells the brain and destroys tissue. Fewer than 10 cases are reported each year in the U.S., but almost all are fatal. Here are some things to know about the amoeba, its latest victim and other dangers on freshwater lakes: The amoeba's scientific name is Naegleria fowleri and it is most dangerous in very warm water, including in lakes and rivers in the southern part of the U.S. and other places with hot, sometimes dry summers like Pakistan and Australia. The amoeba enters the brain through the olfactory nerve in the nose. Once inside, it causes an infection called primary amebic meningoencephalitis. Symptoms start as a fairly standard headache and nausea. By the time the pain becomes severe, it is almost always too late to save the infected person. Of the 167 cases reported in the U.S. between 1962 and 2024, only four people have survived, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most of the deaths happened within five days of getting sick, according to the CDC. Jaysen Carr went swimming at Lake Murray about 24 kilometres west of Columbia over the July Fourth weekend. He got sick several days later and died on July 18. His father and mother had never heard of the amoeba before a doctor in tears told them what tests of his spinal fluid had found. Clarence Carr said he was shocked to learn South Carolina, like most other U.S. states, has no law requiring public reporting of deaths or infections from the amoeba. The lake wasn't closed and no water testing was performed. 'My son was a very smart individual. If he had one warning, he would have thought swimming in the lake was a bad idea,' Carr said. The amoeba is fairly common and is most dangerous when the water is warm. Researchers are trying to figure out why the infections are so rare. Some people have been found to have had antibodies, signalling they may have survived exposure. Others may die from brain swelling and other problems without the amoeba ever being detected. 'My son lost his life swimming. We assumed it was safe,' Carr said. The amoeba can show up in hot springs, rivers and, on rare occasions, in tap water. That's why doctors recommend using sterile water for cleaning nasal passages with a neti pot. The only way to be completely safe is to not swim in lakes or rivers and, if you do, keep your head above water. Pinching your nose or using nose clips when diving or swimming can keep water out of your nose. There are other dangers in swimming in lakes and rivers instead of pools, where chemicals can kill off dangerous bacteria and other organisms. A mouthful of water could contain bacteria. And while the bacteria normally live in the intestines of healthy people and animals, some strains can cause a range of conditions, including urinary tract infection, cystitis, intestinal infection and vomiting, with the worst cases leading to life-threatening blood poisoning, according to the Mayo Clinic. Algae can also cause illnesses. Cyanobacteria – also referred to as blue-green algae – are plant-like organisms that live in water. The algae can look like foam, scum, mats, or paint on the surface of the water and can grow underneath it. The organisms can quickly grow out of control, or 'bloom,' in warm weather, helped along by excessive nutrients in fertilizers and pet waste carried along by stormwater. Some of the algae produce toxins that can cause symptoms including skin irritation, stomach cramps, vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, fever, sore throat, headache, muscle and joint pain, mouth blisters, seizures, and acute liver damage, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Winnipeg Free Press
3 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
What to know about the brain-eating amoeba that killed a boy swimming in a lake
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A 12-year-old boy died from a brain-eating amoeba two weeks after a holiday weekend on a popular South Carolina lake. The brain-eating amoeba enters the body when water is forced up the nose, like when someone jumps or dives in the water. It causes an infection that swells the brain and destroys tissue. Fewer than 10 cases are reported each year in the U.S., but almost all are fatal. Here are some things to know about the amoeba, its latest victim and other dangers on freshwater lakes: What is the brain-eating amoeba? The amoeba's scientific name is Naegleria fowleri and it is most dangerous in very warm water, including in lakes and rivers in the southern part of the U.S. and other places with hot, sometimes dry summers like Pakistan and Australia. The amoeba enters the brain through the olfactory nerve in the nose. Once inside, it causes an infection called primary amebic meningoencephalitis. Symptoms start as a fairly standard headache and nausea. By the time the pain becomes severe, it is almost always too late to save the infected person. Of the 167 cases reported in the U.S. between 1962 and 2024, only four people have survived, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most of the deaths happened within five days of getting sick, according to the CDC. What happened? Jaysen Carr went swimming at Lake Murray about 15 miles (24 kilometers) west of Columbia over the July Fourth weekend. He got sick several days later and died on July 18. His father and mother had never heard of the amoeba before a doctor in tears told them what tests of his spinal fluid had found. Clarence Carr said he was shocked to learn South Carolina, like most other U.S. states, has no law requiring public reporting of deaths or infections from the amoeba. The lake wasn't closed and no water testing was performed. 'My son was a very smart individual. If he had one warning, he would have thought swimming in the lake was a bad idea,' Carr said. The amoeba is fairly common and is most dangerous when the water is warm. Researchers are trying to figure out why the infections are so rare. Some people have been found to have had antibodies, signalling they may have survived exposure. Others may die from brain swelling and other problems without the amoeba ever being detected. 'My son lost his life swimming. We assumed it was safe,' Carr said. The amoeba can show up in hot springs, rivers and, on rare occasions, in tap water. That's why doctors recommend using sterile water for cleaning nasal passages with a neti pot. The only way to be completely safe is to not swim in lakes or rivers and, if you do, keep your head above water. Pinching your nose or using nose clips when diving or swimming can keep water out of your nose. Other dangers lurking in lakes and rivers There are other dangers in swimming in lakes and rivers instead of pools, where chemicals can kill off dangerous bacteria and other organisms. A mouthful of water could contain bacteria. And while the bacteria normally live in the intestines of healthy people and animals, some strains can cause a range of conditions, including urinary tract infection, cystitis, intestinal infection and vomiting, with the worst cases leading to life-threatening blood poisoning, according to the Mayo Clinic. Algae can also cause illnesses. Cyanobacteria — also referred to as blue-green algae — are plant-like organisms that live in water. The algae can look like foam, scum, mats, or paint on the surface of the water and can grow underneath it. The organisms can quickly grow out of control, or 'bloom,' in warm weather, helped along by excessive nutrients in fertilizers and pet waste carried along by stormwater. Some of the algae produce toxins that can cause symptoms including skin irritation, stomach cramps, vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, fever, sore throat, headache, muscle and joint pain, mouth blisters, seizures, and acute liver damage, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
