A new study by the Canadian Convenience Stores Association suggests easy availability and cheaper prices are making local school yards havens for contraband cigarettes.
The study, which collected nearly 1,500 cigarette butts from 10 area high schools, found 23 per cent of Ottawa teens who smoke prefer illegal cigarettes to store-bought smokes.
"Quite a few of my friends [smoke contraband cigarettes]. They don't want to pay $10 a pack, so they'll just pay $15 for like 200 cigarettes -- it seems a lot cheaper," high school student Chrystal Goupil told CTV Ottawa.
According to the study, cost is just one of the reasons a rising number of Ottawa high school students are turning to contraband cigarettes, which they call "natives."
Police say 90 per cent of all contraband cigarettes found in Canada are produced on Akwesasne territory, near Cornwall - a close proximity that gives teens in the capital easy access.
"We're not old enough to like go and buy our own, so usually if we're buying natives it's usually because you know someone who can get them for you easily," said student Courtney Nicolas.
The retailers' association says the study's results are proof cheap and easy-to-get contraband cigarettes are being smuggled and sold in Canada, in an effort to undermine government and anti-smoking programs.
"You can buy contraband cigarettes for pennies, literally pennies a cigarette. And, that's how often they're being sold to high school youth -- so extremely cheap and access has become even easier," said Chris Wilcox of the Ontario Convenience Store Association.
The retailers are also calling on each of the parties in the federal election campaign to commit to making youth possession of tobacco illegal, a call they've made before to provincial leaders.
"We spend a lot of time and money and effort on making sure tobacco gets out of kids hands and smugglers and profiteers don't care about that," said Wilcox.
With a report from CTV Ottawa's John Hua and files from The Canadian Press
