Barb Tarbox (1961 - 18 May 2003) was one of the most well-known anti-smoking activists in Canada; a life-long smoker dying of brain and lung cancers whose very open and frank discussions of her illness, its cause and its consequences, propelled her to the Canadian national stage. During the last months of Tarbox's life she went around Canada teaching young adults the consequences of smoking. Perhaps the most memorable, she emphasized how she was unable to quit smoking even after she found out that she had cancer.

Barb Tarbox was compared by the Mayor of Edmonton to Terry Fox, another great Canadian.

Barb Tarbox passed away on May 18, 2003. On 5 December 2003, Barb Tarbox was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal of Canada for devotion to the anti-smoking cause. The decoration was accepted in Ottawa by members of her family.

External links

• Educational video featuring Barb