From Tobacco Info No. 1 - June 2010
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Tobacco Info, first issue

We are proud to introduce the first issue of Tobacco Info, your magazine for a Smoke-Free Canada. This Canada-wide publication is the sister magazine of Info-tabac, which was first printed in French in Quebec in 1996, and is now in its 83rd edition.

You may be asking, why establish a print magazine in the era of the internet, in a field of public health where so much has been accomplished thus far?

The goal of Tobacco Info and Info-tabac is to reach and inform journalists, elected officials, health professionals and decision-makers in various fields.  These individuals may not have the time to conduct internet research themselves. A tangible document, well-illustrated, has a much better chance of reaching and updating this audience. Also, the subjects covered by a 16-page magazine place a significance and priority upon the subject matter.

If you are interested in saving the equivalent of 40 sheets of paper per year, the magazine is also available online.

Has the tobacco control fight in Canada been won? The number of smokers may have declined by half over the last 20 years, but there is still a lot of work to do. The health of the 4.8 million people who continue to smoke is just as important as that of those who were able to kick the habit — or were overcome by it.

The magazine aims to cover every angle of tobacco control, including and most notably, contraband cigarettes, an industry that continues to thrive in Ontario and Quebec, the implementation of plain packaging and smoking cessation programs.

The publisher of Tobacco Info is Joanne Brown, formerly of The Gazette and Parkhurst Publishing. Joanne is responsible for the distribution and advertising related to both publications. The magazine’s editor is Joe Strizzi, a journalism graduate from Concordia University, who distinguished himself as a reporter and associate editor at The Record, a daily newspaper in Sherbrooke, Quebec. Tobacco Info will regularly include articles from Pierre Croteau, editor of Info-tabac over the last two years.

The editorial committee, which revises our texts and helps prepare our content for publication, includes a number of Canada’s renowned tobacco specialists, including: Michael Chaiton, research associate at the Ontario Tobacco Research Unit; Jocelyne Koepke, operations manager for the Canadian Council for Tobacco Control; Melodie Tilson, director of policy at the Non-Smokers’ Rights Association; Les Hagen, from Alberta’s Action on Smoking and Health; Jack Boomer, from British Columbia’s QuitNow Services, Flory Doucas, co-director of the Quebec Coalition for Tobacco Control. We are truly honoured to have such distinguished counsel.

The initial steps taken to prepare Tobacco Info for publication were funded by Quebec’s Ministry of Health and Social Services, which, for the last 14 years, has been the primary source of financial support for Info-tabac. Support from Health Canada will fund, primarily, the first five issues of Tobacco Info, and we are looking to add partners and sponsors to sustain Tobacco Info beyond the five, where according to our contractual obligations, advertising is limited to 20% of the magazine.

The Tobacco Info team is excited to be a part of the fight for a smoke-free Canada and we wish you happy reading!

By Denis Côté, founder and coordinator,
Tobacco Info (2010) and Info-tabac (1996)