Last week, ahead of the launch of 'Smoking Still Kills', ASH's latest tobacco control strategy report (see earlier post), Forest commissioned a new national poll.
I haven't got time to go through all the results (you can read them here), but this one might interest you.
According to the nationally representative sample of over 2,000 people, a clear majority would allow well-ventilated designated smoking rooms in pubs and private members' clubs, including working men's clubs (57% against 43% who wouldn't allow them).
This is not a rogue result. In fact it follows a ComRes poll for the Institute of Economic Affairs in December 2014 that also found support for designated smoking rooms.
Asked whether owners of pubs and private members’ clubs should be allowed to have a private room for people to smoke in if they want to, 51% agreed, 35% disagreed, and 14% didn’t know.
The tobacco control industry likes to argue that the smoking ban has been a huge success and enjoys overwhelming public support. These polls suggest otherwise.
The reason compliance is so high is because of the stiff penalties that can even lead to landlords ending up in jail.
The detail is quite interesting too:
Here is Forest's response:
"It’s clear there is substantial support for designated smoking rooms in pubs and clubs.
“No landlord or proprietor should be forced to accommodate people who want to smoke but they should have a choice.
“It’s time the government reviewed the impact of the smoking ban on pubs and local communities and considered an amendment to the existing legislation.”
The Populus survey was carried out on Wednesday and Thursday of last week. If I have time I'll return to it later. The Forest press release is on our website: