For the fifth year in a row, the 2015 Kentucky Health Issues Poll (KHIP) has found that Kentucky adults continue to support a comprehensive smoke-free law in the state, including 68 percent of those polled in Northern Kentucky counties.
Support has remained steady at nearly 7 in 10 adults for the past three years.
Northern Kentucky adults are similar to the state state as a whole with 68 percent of Northern Kentucky adults favoring a smoke-free law compared to 66 percent statewide. Over 70 percent of those polled in Lexington and Louisville support a smoke-free law.
KHIP is funded by Interact for Health and the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky.
In the United States, 26 states and the District of Columbia have such laws; Kentucky does not.
“Support for a smoke-free law in Kentucky has remained steady at nearly 7 in 10 Kentucky adults since 2013,” says Ann Barnum, Vice President, Community Strategies, Interact for Health. “There is evidence that smoke-free indoor air policies are effective in reducing exposure to secondhand smoke, which can cause many health issues.”
Most Democrats, Republicans and Independents favor law
Majorities of Democrats (69 percent), Republicans (67 percent) and Independents (58 percent) reported support for a statewide smoke-free law.
Nearly 8 in 10 Kentucky adults who have never smoked (77 percent) favored a smoke-free law. About 7 in 10 former smokers (69 percent) also supported a law. More than 4 in 10 current smokers (43 percent) favored a comprehensive smoke-free law. One in 4 Kentucky adults (26 percent) reported being a current smoker.
Support for this type of statewide law differed by health status. More than 7 in 10 Kentucky adults who reported excellent or very good health (74 percent) supported a smoke free law. About 6 in 10 Kentucky adults who reported good health (62 percent) or fair or poor health (58 percent) favored such a law.
Support strong across Kentucky
About 7 in 10 adults living in the Lexington (71 percent) and Louisville (70 percent) areas and Northern Kentucky (68 percent) favored a statewide smoke-free law. Nearly two-thirds of adults in Western (65 percent) and Eastern Kentucky (64 percent) also supported a statewide smoke-free law.
More information about Kentuckians’ views on a smoke-free law, and other topics, is available at this site.
About the Kentucky Health Issues Poll
The 2015 Kentucky Health Issues Poll (KHIP) is funded by Interact for Health and the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky. KHIP was conducted Sept. 17-Oct. 7, 2015, by the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati. A random sample of 1,608 adults from throughout Kentucky was interviewed by telephone.
This included 986 landline interviews and 622 cell phone interviews with cell phone users. In 95 of 100 cases, the statewide estimates will be accurate to ± 2.4 percent. There are other sources of variation inherent in public opinion studies, such as non-response, question wording, or context effects that can introduce error or bias. For more information about the Kentucky Health Issues Poll, please visit www.healthy-ky.org.
Interact for Health is building healthy communities for all people. We serve as a catalyst for health and wellness by promoting healthy living through grants, education, research, policy and engagement. Interact for Health is an independent foundation that serves 20 counties in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. More information is available at this website, www.interactforhealth.org.
From Interact for Health/Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky