Almost All Canadians Support Smoking Restrictions In Public Places

Toronto, ON - A new Ipsos Reid survey conducted on behalf of the Canadian Council for Tobacco Control and Pfizer Consumer Healthcare, finds that almost all Canadians (94%) are in favour of some level of smoking restriction in public places;

• Four in ten (39%) feel that smoking should be permitted in social settings, such as restaurants and bars, but only in smoking areas that are completely separated from non-smoking areas
• Another third (31%) feel smoking should only be permitted in private homes
• One quarter (23%) think it smoking not be permitted at all
• 5% are in favour of more lenient smoking bylaws, saying smoking should either be permitted in all enclosed public places, including the workplace (2%) or at least in social settings such as restaurants and bars (3%)

Most Canadian adults (70%) agree smoking bylaws that restrict smoking in public places put a lot of pressure on smokers to quit. New legislation is coming into place on May 31 that will ban smoking in all enclosed public places and enclosed workplaces in Ontario and Quebec. In reaction to this news, four in ten (43%) smokers in these provinces feel the ban will cause them to change their social routines and close to three in ten (28%) expect this new legislation will make them more likely to seek support to quit smoking.

Meanwhile, four in ten (40%) Canadian smokers who are trying to quit say they feel totally alone in their efforts to quit, and one in ten (10%) smokers does not know where he or she would turn for support when trying to quit.

On a positive note, eight in ten (83%) Canadians believe there are many resources that are freely available to help people quit smoking, and nearly all (94%) would support a smoker in their attempt to quit.

Smokers trying to quit are most likely to seek support from a friend or family member (39%), a physician (27%), another healthcare professional such as a pharmacist or dentist (13%) or other source (11%). Most Canadians are aware of many sources to help stop smoking, including Nicotine Replacement Therapy (94%), healthcare professionals (79%), the Internet and other literature (68%), patient support groups (58%) and prescription pills (57%).

Two thirds (66%) of Canadian adults say they would support a program where the provincial health insurance plan covered the costs for Nicotine Replacement Therapy, such as a nicotine patch or nicotine gum. The good news is that such a program already exists in Quebec.

These are the findings of an Ipsos Reid/Pfizer poll conducted from April 4 to 6, 2006. For the survey, a representative randomly selected sample of 2,002 adult Canadians was interviewed by telephone. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 1772.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 2001 Census data.

For more information on this news release, please contact:
Angela Hunter
Director
Ipsos Reid, Health Practice
416.324.2900
[email protected]

Ipsos Reid
Ipsos Reid is Canada's market intelligence leader, the country's leading provider of public opinion research, and research partner for loyalty and forecasting and modelling insights. With operations in eight cities, Ipsos Reid employs more than 300 research professionals and support staff in Canada. The company has the biggest network of telephone call centres in the country, as well as the largest pre-recruited household and online panels. Ipsos Reid's marketing research and public affairs practices offer the premier suite of research vehicles in Canada, all of which provide clients with actionable and relevant information. Staffed with seasoned research consultants with extensive industry-specific backgrounds, Ipsos Reid offers syndicated information or custom solutions across key sectors of the Canadian economy, including consumer packaged goods, financial services, automotive, retail, and technology & telecommunications. Ipsos Reid is an Ipsos company, a leading global survey-based market research group.

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