Some alarming stats on illegal cigarettes involving North Bay and a couple local secondary schools.

The Ontario Convenience Store Association has released an updated study on illegal tobacco use across Ontario.

The survey collected nearly 20,000 discarded cigarette “butts” at 134 sites across Ontario in September 2016 to understand the market share of un-taxed cigarettes in the province.

The study shows North Bay was second when it comes to Illegal Tobacco Rates, at 66.3 per cent this year.

As for top sites for illegal tobacco use, St Joseph-Scollard Hall was 3rd in the province while Chippewa was 8th.

Overall, the Association says for the third year in a row, the use of illegal tobacco has increased in most surveyed locations, and retailers warn new regulations on flavoured tobacco as well as plain-packaging of tobacco products could see this number climb even higher.