There are no plans in the works to draft or implement a territory-wide smoking ban.

In an interview Monday, Health and Social Services Minister Brad Cathers said his government prefers education over enforcement when it comes to the smoking debate.

Cathers' responses come days after the Yukon Medical Association (YMA), at last Friday's annual general meeting, again encouraged the government to draft anti-smoking legislation across the territory in the interest of public health.

Former YMA president Dr. Wayne MacNicol said Friday smoking is one of Yukoners' leading causes of deaths.

MacNicol said the YMA has been asking for such legislation for more than a decade.

'It's still our major health issue here,' MacNicol said, 'but Yukoners are slow to move.'

Cathers said Monday he is concerned about Yukon smoking rates, which are among the highest in the nation at almost 30 per cent, and his department and the government are committed to attacking the problem.

'As I told the YMA, we are going to continue discussions around reducing smoking,' he told the Star. 'We will work with the YMA in terms of discussion.

'(We're using) health promotion and nutrition education to try to assist people in quitting smoking as well as to encourage people not to smoke.'

Spending money on peace officers to enforce an anti-smoking law, Cathers said, isn't necessarily the best course of action.

'At the moment, we're investing money into assistance rather than enforcement.'

Education to encourage young Yukoners not to smoke and measures such as a quit pack to encourage Yukoners to discard their cigarettes are just some of the things that are being done to address the smoking problem, the minister said.

Smoking, according to Health Canada, is one of the leading causes of preventable death in the nation.

Dr. Rao Tadepalli, the president of the YMA, said this morning he doesn't feel the government's approach to the smoking problem is effective.

'I don't think it's adequate. We believe in enforcement; we believe in legislation,' he said.

While the YMA agrees with having education measures to assist with the smoking problem, he added, the government needs to play a more active role.

'There (is) no point in talking; there should be action. We're the only jurisdiction in the country without legislation,' he said.

Tadepalli noted the Yukon has one of the highest rates of smoking in the country, and that youth are part of the problem.

'It's an unacceptable behaviour. As an emergency room doctor, it's not uncommon for me to see teens who smoke, drink and do drugs,' Tadepalli said.

He was re-elected to a second term as the YMA's president last Friday.