Support for restrictive tobacco policies among residents of selected Minnesota communities

Tobacco related diseases remain the most important public health problem. Public policy approaches to tobacco control have been used historically, and remain a viable, though largely untested, tobacco control strategy. The purpose of this article is to report assessment of support for tobacco control policies among the general public.

A random sample of 821 residents from seven Minnesota communities was surveyed by telephone to assess their support for 12 measures designed to restrict smoking behavior and curb demand for tobacco. Some of these policies were similar to those already in place, while others had not yet been adopted.

Over 50% of the respondents indicated that they strongly favored or somewhat favored each of the measures, suggesting that a constituency exists for further regulation of tobacco. Measures that restrict tobacco advertising, prohibit smoking in public places, increase the penalties for selling tobacco to minors, and reduce access of young people to tobacco are especially popular. Women, nonsmokers, and older people form the basis of support for these measures.

These results suggest that Minnesota citizens are more supportive of restrictive tobacco control policies than policy makers might believe, and that more aggressive lobbying on behalf of such measures at the state and local level is warranted.