Tobacco Control Program
StatShot Vol. 5, No. 5/June 2012
Support for Eliminating Smoking in Public Places such as Parks and
Beaches Remains Steady
Eliminating smoking in outdoor public places, especially where families gather, may be
an important step towards changing social norms and reducing the social modeling of
smoking to children and youth. A majority of New Yorkers support eliminating smoking
in some outdoor public places and this level of support has remained steady since 2006.
•
In New York in 2010, over 60% of non-smokers and nearly 30% of smokers
favored banning smoking in outdoor public places such as parks or beaches.
•
Between 2005 and 2006 in New York, the proportion of smokers favoring the
banning of outdoor smoking in parks or on beaches increased significantly from
22% to 27%. There has been no change since 2006.
•
In New York in 2010, twice as many non-smokers favor outdoor smoking bans
compared with smokers.
Percentage of New York Adults Who Favor Banning Smoking in
Parks and Beaches
100
90
80
Percent
70
60
58.8%
63.0%
56.8%
53.9%
62.2%
57.5%
61.7%
56.3%
64.2%
58.4%
63.4%
57.2%
50
40
30
22.4%
31.0%
27.5%
28.1%
26.6%
27.0%
20
10
0
2005
2006
2007
Smokers
Year
Nonsmokers
2008
2009
2010
Overall
Source: New York Adult Tobacco Survey, 2005 – 2010. Contact the Bureau of Chronic Disease Evaluation and Research, New York
State Department of Health at (518) 473-0673 or type ‘StatShot’ in the subject line of an e-mail and send it to [email protected].