CANCHID has included the Health and Economic Consequences of Tobacco as
one of its special focus areas. This posting regarding Ontario Legislation
is posted as part of that focus. -  Sam Lanfranco, CANCHID ListManager -
 
The Ontario (CANADA) provincial government has passed legislation banning
the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco produces in pharmacies (drug stores)
from December 31st, 1994.
 
500 Ontario pharmacist-owners, many part of major chains such as Shoppers'
Drug Mart and Pharma Plus, failed in an attempt to get a court injunction
exempting them from the province's new Tobacco Act. The drug store lawyer
said that tobacco made up about 22% of drug store sales and argued that
prohibiting sales of cigarettes in drug stores curbs the free expression of
pharmacists by forcing them to send an implicit message of disapproval of
smoking.
 
The lawyer with the Ministry of the Attorney general said that every piece
of legislation that prohibits an activity - whether it be gun ownership or
insider trading - IS sending an implicit message to the public.
 
The Ontario court judge ruled in the case that the public benefits of the
Tobacco Control Act, which is aimed at keeping tobacco products out of the
hands of young people, far outweigh any commercial consequences suffered by
the pharmacists. Observed that pharmacists have an ethical responsibility to
protect their customers from the hazards of cigarette smoking and that they
(pharmacists) are part of the health-care system.
 
(Reference: The Financial Post, Dec 10, 1994, p. 20, Toronto)