Smoking Statistics Released

The Office for National Statistics reported in June 2008 that eighty per cent of respondents to the 2007 Omnibus Survey agreed with the ban on smoking in enclosed public places.

• 73% of people still visit the pub as often as they did prior to the legislation, with 16% attending more frequently.
• 93% of those in employment said that smoking was banned in the building where they worked.
• 67% of people do not allow smoking in their home, and increase of six percent since 2006.
• Awareness of health risks to those exposed to second-hand smoke is also on the rise with 91% of people believing that a child's risk of chest infection increases when living with a smoker.
• 79% of smokers said that they did not smoke when a child is in the room with 13% smoking less when a child is present.
• Over 80% of respondents believed that second-hand smoking would increase a non-smoking adults risk of lung-cancer, bronchitis and asthma.

Source: Office for National Statistics News Release, 18 June 2008