STF LOBBIES FOR SMOKE-FREE SCHOOLGROUNDS

The Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation (STF) is taking a stand against
smoking tobacco on school property.

At its annual council meeting held in Saskatoon this week, a resolution was
passed "that the STF lobby the provincial government to declare all schools
and schoolgrounds to be smoke-free areas."

The move comes at the heels of the province's recent ban on the display of
tobacco products -- aimed at preventing young people from lighting up.

Under the Tobacco Control Act, Saskatchewan has forced cigarettes to be
obscured from the eyes of people under the age of 18, and has also banned
the promotion of tobacco products in places that young people are allowed
to go.

Murray Wall, a Watrous teacher who was elected president of the STF on
Thursday, said "the health of children" was the top concern when it came to
passing the resolution.

"We know what the detrimental effects are of smoking and the addictive
qualities of cigarette smoking," he said.

"And so, since teachers are concerned about children and every aspect of
children, the health of children is certainly the concern there."

Wall said currently, it's up to individual school boards to decide whether
smoking is allowed on schoolgrounds. However, the STF wants the government
to declare all schools and school grounds smoke-free, meaning that neither
students nor teachers could smoke in any of those areas throughout the
province.

But while the federation took a firm stance on tobacco consumption, there
appeared to be divided opinion on the non-medicinal use of marijuana.

On Friday, a resolution stating that the STF "develop a policy opposing
legalization of non-medicinal marijuana" for people under the age of 19 was
defeated.

After some debate, just 61 people voted in favour of the resolution, while
119 voted against it.

Dianne Woloschuk, executive vice-president of the Saskatoon Teachers
Association and the individual who moved the resolution, said there is "a
move to decriminalize marijuana and perhaps legalize the use of it."

Last year, a Senate committee report recommended that marijuana and hashish
production and use be regulated by the government. The committee, which
studied cannabis use for two years, said the drugs should be available for
legal consumption by any Canadian resident over the age of 16.

That doesn't sit well with Woloschuk.

"There are indications that smoke from marijuana is as damaging to health
as cigarette smoke," she said.

"We are concerned that the some of the proposed policies or legislation
that we saw specified an age of 16 years of age for people to be able to
use it, or for it to be decriminalized to that extent.

"These people would still be in high school. As teachers, we encourage
young people to be drug free, and to promote their health. This, we
believe, will lead to really effective learning," she added.

However, some people disagreed with Woloschuk's stance.

One teacher argued that it's not in the STF's mandate to make policies on
social issues, such as abortion, for example.

"The issue for the councillors that are here, the representatives that are
here, was whether or not the federation should be getting into the realm of
policy on issues like that -- or whether we'd better to voice teachers'
concerns in the form of a letter instead," Wall said in an interview.

"That's what the debate centred around, was whether or not it's an area
that the STF wants to develop federation policy on."