The days of smoking and driving when anyone up to age 17 is in the vehicle are numbered — courtesy of a new three-year tobacco reduction strategy.

Health Minister Fred Horne introduced the plan Monday, which includes provisions that would make it illegal to smoke in vehicles with anyone under 18 present.

Horne said the plan also includes items that he expects will be met with opposition, like legislation that would restrict the sale of flavoured tobacco to minors, and the use of water pipes or hookahs in restaurants and bars.

"There are areas where we expect a large divergence of opinion," Horne said. "So the plan is to put them into one bill which potentially could be tabled in the spring session. We would want to move forward on this as soon as possible."

The province will also bring in rules to expand school-based stop-smoking programs, and offering more tobacco cessation training for health professionals.

16-year-old Jianna Marin, of Lloydminster, Alberta, was part of a team that lobbied to see flavoured tobacco banned in the border city. She says the affordability of flavoured cigarellos or chew make it easy for teens to get hooked, and she's seeing it first hand at her school.

"A ridiculous number of teenage boys are using spit tobacco, flavoured like cherry, peach and grape. These are like kindergarten products and eventually they graduate to using regular spit tobacco," she said.

"It is disgusting when kids come in to school in this big cloud of smoke. They're using it because everyone is using it."

Not included in the strategy, a plan to raise tobacco taxes — Horne noted that the provincial government is adhering to a promise made to Albertans that taxes wouldn't be raised for three years.

Other initiatives that government will look at over the next 10-years includes adding health warning signs, further restrictions on smoking in public places, and improving the availability of products that aid in quitting tobacco.

Funding for the plan is to come from the Alberta Health Services budget.

There will be an extra $500,000 for a social media campaign. The province estimates smoking rates in Alberta have fallen from 25% in 2001 to 19% in 2010.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Province will bring in rules to restrict sale of flavoured tobacco

• Expanding programs to help people quit smoking

• Offering more tobacco cessation training for health professionals

• Introduce provincial legislation to prohibit sale of cigarettes to children

• Legislation to prohibit people from smoking in vehicles with kids present

allison.salz@sunmedia.ca

@SUNAllisonSalz