The use of illegal contraband cigarettes in London surged in the past year, a new study suggests.

The 10th annual study, done for the Ontario Convenience Stores Association, says contraband cigarettes, fingered by investigators in a recent fire death in London, made up 35.8 per cent of the market in London — up from 26.8 per cent in the 2016 survey.

The province-wide study takes a ground-level approach to research. The results are based on analysis of 18,816 cigarette butts collected in September in 135 public smoking spaces across Ontario. The butts were collected from office buildings, retail stores and food outlets, hospitals, recreational facilities, public transit stops and schools.

High school locations reported the biggest year-over-year increase in contraband levels — a five per cent rise from the previous year.

Southwestern Ontario showed the largest increase in the number of contraband cigarette butts collected — up from 26 per cent in 2016 to 33.9 per cent this year. It was the second highest level in the province. The study defines contraband as any cigarettes sold without the collection of taxes.

The convenience store group says organized crime is behind the growing market for contraband tobacco and the provincial government is fuelling the trend with higher taxes and a lack of enforcement.

Dave Bryans, its chief executive, says legal tobacco retailers are losing $1.1 billion in sales a year.

“It’s time for the Ontario government to realize that every time they increase taxes on legal tobacco, more smokers turn to the black market,” he said.

Bryans said convenience store owners rely on cigarette sales for up to 60 per cent of their profits.

He predicted the contraband tobacco sales, along with increased minimum wage, will lead to the closing of 500 stores in 2017.

In contrast, the number of convenience stores in the United States is growing modestly.

Lambton-Kent-Middlesex Progressive Conservative MPP Monte McNaughton said the government continues to take a lax attitude toward enforcement.

“Contraband tobacco funds illegal activity and even terrorism and makes it easier for kids to get cigarettes. The province needs to take this seriously and crack down,” McNaughton said.

Provincial officials need to talk to Indigenous leaders because their communities are a main source of contraband cigarettes, he said. Issues of sovereignty on Indigenous lands shouldn’t impede enforcement, he said.

“The rule of law should be applied fairly across the entire province.”

But far beyond the economic implications are safety ones.

London fire officials are warning of the dangers of contraband cigarettes that are being blamed for two fire fatalities this year, including one this week. Illegal smokes are poorly made and lack an industry-standard design that snuffs them out when left unattended, thus reducing the dangers of careless smoking.

hdaniszewski@postmedia.com

London cigarette study

Percentage of butts from contraband cigarettes