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Battling smoking for Susan

After his wife died from lung cancer, Art Van Pelt is lobbying to restrict access to tobacco

Since lung cancer took his wife, Art Van Pelt has been lobbying for government to change tobacco laws, even calling for an eventual ban in B.C.

He will be one of the speakers at the Ridge Meadows Hospital Foundation’s health forum on smoking cessation, Tuesday.

Van Pelt’s wife Susan started getting chiropractic treatment for serious back pain on Sept. 26, 2013.

It didn’t relieve her agony, and she received X-rays and a CT scan that revealed stage four lung cancer.

It was a shock, since Susan had been smoke-free for 23 years, having quit when she was 35, after having smoked since her teens.

“On Nov. 28, she received the diagnosis, and she was gone seven weeks later,” he said.

Van Pelt is determined to save others from the same fate, by finding a way to restrict, and finally stop, the sale of tobacco in Canada.

They have a website, www.susansbattle.com, and it lists “Our Battle Plan.”

Part of the plan is what he calls the “Born After” strategy. It would ban the sale of tobacco products to anyone born after a given date. For example, he says legislation could be enacted on Jan. 1, 2016 to ensure than nobody born after Jan. 1, 1997 could purchase tobacco products.

“I’m realistic, in that we have people who are addicted, and who can’t quit quickly,” he said.

However, he looks at the number of people who take up smoking in the age range 19-25, and says something needs to be done.

Van Pelt would also have tobacco products sold only in government controlled retail stores, such as liquor stores, or stand-alone tobacco stores. This because, according to Health Canada’s 2010-2011 Youth Smoking Survey, 25 per cent of minors in Grades 6 to 12 get their tobacco by purchasing it themselves in retail outlets.

People who have lost loved ones to tobacco-related illness in the U.S. have been part of legal action against tobacco companies – class-action lawsuits. Van Pelt considered that as an idea, but rejects it.

“I would rather work with government officials, rather than become aggressive and attack them.”

Van Pelt has lived his entire life in Maple Ridge, and is a retired Overwaitea Foods executive. He has been a member of the Ridge Meadows Hospital Foundation for nine years, and also on the board of Alouette Addictions.

He will talk about his ideas at the foundation’s health forum on Tuesday, Jan. 13, from 7-8:30 p.m. at the ACT.

Kristina Murray, the foundation’s development officer, explained there will be other speakers, including Dr. Frank Ervin, the hospital’s head of division for respiratory medicine, talking about screening and tests.

Former smoker Adriana Anderson-Viskovich will talk about her journey to quit smoking, and there will be a health promotion coordinator from Fraser Health and other presenters.

There are well known strategies for smoking cessation, but Murray believes the clinic will be an asset to those who resolved to quit in 2015.

“It will help. We’re offering a lot of information on why people should quit smoking, how they can get checked, and why they should never start.”

The event coincides with the creation of a smoking cessation clinic at the hospital, which is available by referral.