The report also calls on the government to impose an annual levy on tobacco companies, ban volume discounts and all industry incentives offered to retailers.

"Just as we have levies on other industries — like the mining industry needs to clean up what they do — we recommend that we add a levy on the tobacco companies so that they actually cover the health costs, the economic costs and the social costs of tobacco use," said Robert Schwartz, executive director of the Ontario Tobacco Research Unit.

The report's authors urge a reduction in the number of retail outlets selling tobacco, which they say is currently about 10,000.

Zoning changes could ban the sale of cigarettes near schools, campuses and recreation centres, the report suggests.

The report recommends increasing smoking cessation services, but also doing more to prevent young people from taking up smoking in the first place.

To achieve that, the expert panel suggests raising the minimum age to buy tobacco products to 21 and making media productions such as movies that include smoking ineligible for public subsidies. As well, any movie that "contains tobacco imagery" should be rated 18A, the report recommends.

E-cigarettes and vaping products, which the report authors say are less toxic than cigarettes but still harmful, should only be sold to people who already smoke, it recommends.

"Given the industry's own claims that these products were developed to help people who smoke quit, their use should be limited to people who smoke and who might benefit from them," it says.

"The (panel) recognizes that this could be a difficult recommendation to police and enforce. However, the ministry could explore options such as a card system for people who smoke or making these products available only by prescription."

By Allison Jones, The Canadian Press