Continuing the war on smoking - By Julie DeBruin, Barrie Advance, Canada
She was diagnosed in the summer of 2002 with stage 3B non-small cell lung cancer. It is the most common form of lung cancer in smokers. It has no cure and treatment is rarely effective.
Hers was the first case where full compensation from worker’s compensation from the Workplace Safety Insurance Board has been awarded due to lung cancer from second-hand smoke. She died last May 22, a week before Ontario’s act became law.
“Smoking deaths are 100 per cent preventable,” said Watson. Lung cancer is common among smokers (14,000 deaths a year in Canada), less common among second-hand smokers (350 deaths a year), and almost unheard of among people with little or no exposure to cigarette smoke. “I feel lives will be saved,” he said, referring to the fact that work and public places are smoke-free.