More people are passing on puff-puff.
A majority of Americans support a ban on all tobacco products, according to a new survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The poll, which was published in the peer-reviewed journal Preventing Chronic Disease on Thursday, asked people if they would support policies for a ban on menthol cigarettes and the sale of all tobacco products.
Out of the survey’s 6,455 participants, 62.3% of people supported a ban on menthol cigarettes, and 57.3% were in favor of a policy that would stop the sale of tobacco products overall.
Within the results, there was a disparity based on sex: Generally, more women aged 18 to 29 years old were in favor of getting rid of menthol cigarettes (59.5% among men, 65.0% among women) and about the same for a ban on tobacco (52.2% among men, 62.2% among women).
“The public is ahead of policymakers and even public health on this issue,” Ruth Malone, a researcher on tobacco and the editor-in-chief of the journal Tobacco Control, told STAT News. “We need to be bold and we need to be braver. There’s a lot of anxiety over calling for something bold like this.”
The new results from this survey could represent a step in the right direction for the bar on tobacco products. According to a 2018 poll by Gallup, 25% of adults in the United States supported a smoking ban at the time. However, the Gallup poll was a bit harsher on what they considered a total smoking ban, as they simply asked if smoking itself should be illegal here.
“This is a big shift from only a few years ago when it was hard to find anyone willing to talk about the end of tobacco,” Robert Proctor, a history professor at Stanford University who has fought to end the sale of tobacco products, told STAT News.
According to the CDC, smoking and using tobacco products can increase your risk for diabetes, lung disease, cancer and more chronic illnesses.
Currently, New York Governor Kathy Hochul is attempting to impose a statewide ban on the sale of flavored vaping products, like hookah and flavored tobacco. She also wants to raise taxes on cigarette sales from $4.35 to $5.35 per pack.
This past summer, President Joe Biden’s administration also announced that they wanted to place a limit on the amount of nicotine allowed in cigarettes in an attempt to help reduce smoking-related deaths and addiction.
“This proposed rule is a tobacco product standard that would establish a maximum nicotine level in cigarettes and certain finished tobacco products,” the administration said at the time.
