Assessing Public Opinion to Inform Tobacco Policy Development in New York City

Background: To measure public support for tobacco control policy initiatives and inform community outreach and advocacy activities, a survey of smokers and non-smokers was conducted.

Methods: A random-digit-dial cross-sectional phone-survey of landline and cell-phones of 1,447 adults in New York City (NYC), including 685 smokers and 762 non-smokers was conducted in August 2010. Smoking behaviors, awareness, attitudes, and social norms about tobacco control policy issues were assessed. Smokers were over-sampled and results are weighted to NYC's current smoking prevalence.

Results: Non-smokers are more likely to support cigarette tax increases than smokers (71% vs 21%). Support increases if taxes are earmarked for smoking prevention (76% and 48%) or healthcare programs (81% and 58%). Sixty three percent of non-smokers and 39% of smokers support policies prohibiting pharmacies from selling tobacco products while 68% of non-smokers and 55% of smokers support prohibiting sales near schools. Policies prohibiting sales in grocery stores (54% vs 30%) and limiting licenses (58% vs 33%) are viewed favorably by non-smokers. Other retail strategies received strong support from non-smokers and moderate support from smokers including: prohibiting price promotions (57% and 41%), product visibility bans (62% and 42%), and tobacco industry payments to retailers for product and advertising displays (58% and 42%), and raising the minimum purchasing age to 21 (67% and 66%).

Conclusions: There are promising levels of public support among smokers and non-smokers for tobacco control policies that contribute to decreases in smoking initiation, consumption and prevalence. Survey results will help government and non-profit agencies prioritize policy areas.