Support for more smokefree places in the region grows ten years after ban

New report shows increasing support for more smokefree places.

Support for smokefree places in the East Midlands is stronger than ever ten years after the smoking ban was introduced.

According to a new health report from health charity ASH, 83per cent of people in the East Midlands in 2017 support smokefree legislation.

This is up from 76per cent in April 2007, three months before smokefree laws came into place across England.

The report, Smokefree: The First Ten Years, tracks changes in attitudes to the ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces and other measures aimed at protecting people, particularly children and young people, from health harms due to tobacco.

Smokefree analyses ten years of data from the ASH Smokefree England survey carried out by polling company YouGov.

Nationally, in April 2007, 78per cent of all respondents to the survey were in favour of smokefree legislation.

In the ten years since, support has grown to 83per cent, primarily due to an increase in support from smokers from 40per cent to 55per cent. The overall change is entirely due to changing attitudes among smokers. Support among non-smokers has been stable.

Public support in the East Midlands for other tobacco control measures has also grown over the past decade, including the below: