A new report from the Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) shows where Private and Public School boards stand on Tobacco and Cannabis policies for students.

The non-profit group graded the school boards on a variety of topics including education, enforcement, organization and youth possession of tobacco and cannabis products.

“We have eight school districts that received A’s,” says Executive Director of ASH Les Hagen, “There are a number of school boards we’re aware of that are also developing new policies in anticipation of cannabis legalization. Our very simple message is: to encourage school boards to address all forms of smoking and vaping on all of their property prior to October 17th.”

Rocky View Schools received an overall grade of C according to their report. The school division ranked highest in providing a smoke-free environment and keeping tobacco and marijuana away from youth.

Their lowest numbers though came in education and cessation, scoring no points for providing educational opportunities or access to treatment for students and staff.

Despite some boards like RVS not scoring high, Hagen expects that to improve over the next few months.

“In fact, if we were to repeat this in two months, I suspect we would see double the number of school boards who are receiving A’s.”

The Calgary Catholic Separate School Division (CSSD) which has schools in Airdrie was given an A for their policies.

Many of the boards that were graded high were Catholic school boards which didn’t surprise Hagen.

“School boards that have already been taking significant action on health issues overall like comprehensive school health, for example, are more likely to have strong tobacco policies in place. That is true of the Calgary Catholic School Board, they do have a very strong, comprehensive school health program that’s been in place for many years.”

When all is said and done, Hagen and ASH want to ensure that schools know how to keep tobacco and cannabis products away from children.

“We know that modelling is an essential element of childhood development. If we model healthy behaviours, we’re more likely to get healthy kids and healthy kids also make better learners. School boards have a number of reasons to address this issue and to ensure they’re doing everything they can to help kids grow up drug-free.”

You can see more on the reports for the school boards at the Action on Smoking and Health website.

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