As part of National Non-Smoking Week, Manitoba Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen attended a Students Working Against Tobacco event at the Niverville Collegiate Institute.

Goertzen says the event was held to encourage young people to never start smoking. He notes he given a tour around to the many different stations that were set up to demonstrate the dangers of tobacco products.

"I think a lot of people, they know that smoking is bad for you but they don't always know the killer ingredients that are within cigarettes. I think the young people did a really good job of both being graphic so that you are getting the message across but also translating a lot of information."

Goertzen says we are seeing the effect of these kinds of educational events in Manitoba, with fewer and fewer young people smoking. He notes though it was a big honour to attend the event and address the students directly, it is even more important that they support one another.

"It is great to see so many young people from Niverville Collegiate participating, putting up displays, putting up different events to try to talk to their peers about why they shouldn't start smoking, and that is the greatest effect. We can advertise and we can put up pictures and we can do all sorts of things but it doesn't have the effect of young people talking to young people about the dangers of smoking."

Goertzen says he wants to encourage and thank students for taking initiative and talking with their friends and peers about the harm that tobacco causes.

Kianne PrudhommeKianne Prudhomme is a student at Niverville Collegiate Institute and a member of the Students Working Against Tobacco or SWAT group. She led Health Minister Goertzen through the stations and displays. She notes the SWAT group learns how to teach other students about the dangers of tobacco.

"A lot of the response from kids is 'I didn't know there were so many chemicals in cigarettes', so with all the different things that we have been telling them, a lot of response has been, 'well I didn't know that, that is super cool and that is also super scary, we should probably inform the people who do smoke and I don't want them to get sick or anything."

Prudhomme says some of the presentations such as the tar jar which represents the tar that is deposited in lungs and a pigs lung affected by these chemicals are meant to show students the dangers of smoking and point them to resources that are there to help them.

Goertzen says though the main focus is preventions, for those that already smoke Manitoba Health offers a number of different supports and programs throughout the province to aid in the tough task of quitting.