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Chapter 8: Second hand smoke

Chapter aims

This chapter addresses the following key questions:

• Where are people most commonly exposed to second-hand smoke?
• Do people actively avoid pubs and restaurants because of smoke?
• What are people's attitudes towards the proposed ban on smoking in pubs, bars and restaurants?

Introduction

The Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Bill seeks to improve public health by prohibiting smoking in wholly enclosed public places, including pubs, bars and restaurants. The Bill and similar legislation introduced in other countries, including Ireland and the USA, reflect the growing political attention being paid to the health effects of passive smoking or 'second-hand smoke'. At the time of writing, the first stage of the Bill had just been approved by the Scottish Parliament.

The Scottish Executive sponsored several questions in the 2004 SSA designed to explore experiences of and attitudes towards second-hand smoke. In particular, the Scottish Executive was interested in where people are exposed to second-hand smoke and whether or not they take steps to avoid pubs, bars or restaurants because of other people's cigarette smoke. ScotCen also included two specific questions about the proposed ban on smoking in public places. The intention is that these two questions will be repeated in future sweeps of the SSA, so that any changes in public attitudes towards the ban can be tracked over time.

Respondents' own smoking histories

Respondents were asked about their own smoking histories before being asked their views on passive smoking (Table 8.1). Overall, 30% of the sample were current smokers, most of whom had tried to stop at some point in the past. Seventy per cent were non-smokers, with a quarter of all respondents describing themselves as ex-smokers. These figures are very similar to those produced by the Scottish Household Survey, which surveys over 15,000 Scottish residents each year and estimates that 28% of all adults in Scotland are smokers. ²⁴

Table 8.1 Respondents' smoking status by age

Men were not significantly more likely than women to be current smokers, although women were more likely to say they had never smoked (48%, compared with 39% of men). Likelihood of smoking falls with age - 39% of 18-24 year-old respondents smoke, compared with 36% of 25-39 year-olds, 30% of 40-64 year-olds and 20% of those aged 65 and over. As other research on smoking has shown ²⁵, there is also a strong link between smoking and class - 20% of employers, managers and professionals smoke, compared with 38% of those in semi-routine and routine occupations.

Where are people exposed to second-hand smoke?

Figure 8.1 shows the proportion of respondents who said they were regularly exposed to other people's tobacco smoke in different places. The current Bill proposes banning smoking in enclosed public spaces, including restaurants, pubs and bars. The survey findings suggest that restaurants, pubs and bars are indeed the main spaces in which people in Scotland are regularly exposed to second-hand smoke. Over a third of respondents said they were regularly exposed to other people's smoke in restaurants and over half said they were exposed to smoke in pubs. This compares with just under a fifth who experience passive smoking in their own home and around 1 in 8 who said they were regularly exposed to smoke at work.

Figure 8.1 Whether regularly exposed to other people's tobacco smoke in different places (% 'Yes')

Base: 1,637

Unsurprisingly, men and younger people were more likely than women and older people to say they were regularly exposed to smoke in pubs or bars (63% of men compared with 48% of women, and 79% of 18-24 year-olds, compared with 70% of 25-39 year-olds, 56% of 40-64 year-olds and 21% of those aged 65 and over).

Do people take action to avoid exposure?

Concern about second-hand smoke does appear to affect people's choices about where they spend their time. Overall, 39% of respondents avoid pubs or bars at least sometimes because they would be bothered by other people's smoke, while 46% avoid restaurants at least sometimes for the same reason (Figure 8.2).

Figure 8.2 Do people ever avoid pubs/bars and restaurants because of smoke?

Base: 1,637

Logistic regression shows that the most significant factors associated with whether people avoid pubs and restaurants because of smoke are whether or not they currently smoke, their age and their education. Current smokers were much less likely than non-smokers to avoid pubs and restaurants because of smoke, although 14% of smokers did avoid pubs and 20% avoided restaurants at least sometimes because of smoke. Young people were less likely than older respondents to avoid both pubs and restaurants because of smoke (a quarter of 18-24 year olds said they avoided pubs at least sometimes, compared with 39% of 25-39 year olds), as were those with no qualifications compared with those with degrees (24% of those with no qualifications, compared with 57% of those with a degree avoided pubs at least sometimes). ²⁶ Gender was also a significant factor in whether respondents avoided restaurants (though not pubs), with 49% of women compared with 40% of men saying they avoided restaurants because of smoke.

Attitudes towards the proposed ban on smoking in public places

Questions about the proposed ban on smoking in pubs, bars and restaurants were included in the self-completion section of the SSA in order to minimise the likelihood of respondents giving what they perceive to be 'socially acceptable' responses. It is worth noting that smokers were not significantly more or less likely than non-smokers to complete the self-completion section, so these findings are not affected by differential response rates between smokers and non-smokers.

Respondents were asked to tick one box to indicate whether they think smoking should be freely allowed, whether it should be restricted to certain areas, or whether it should be banned entirely in (a) pubs and bars, and (b) restaurants. Support for a complete ban (as proposed by the current Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Bill) is highest in relation to restaurants - over half (53%) of respondents support a ban on smoking in restaurants, twice as many as support an outright ban in pubs. However, although just a quarter of respondents support banning smoking in pubs altogether, support for the status quo (freely allowing smoking in pubs/bars) is also low (15%). There is majority support (83%) for some action to at least restrict smoking in pubs and bars. Future sweeps of the SSA will track whether there is any movement between the proportion who support restrictions and the proportion supporting an outright ban as the legislation progresses.

Figure 8.3 Views on smoking in pubs/bars and restaurants

Base: 1,514

Whether or not a person currently smokes is the factor most strongly associated with support for a complete ban. Just 4% of current smokers, compared with 34% of non-smokers, support a complete ban on smoking in pubs, while a quarter of current smokers compared with two-thirds of non-smokers favour a complete ban in restaurants. However, even among smokers there is majority support for some action to restrict smoking in pubs and restaurants - just 29% of smokers think smoking should be freely allowed in pubs and only 6% that it should be freely allowed in restaurants.

Logistic regression shows that, aside from whether the respondent smokes, the main factors associated with support for a complete ban on smoking in pubs and bars are somewhat different to those associated with support for a complete ban in restaurants. Social class appears to be the main factor associated with support for a ban on smoking in pubs - 34% of employers, managers and professionals support a complete ban, compared with 17% of those in routine and semi-routine occupations. In contrast, support for a ban on smoking in restaurants is most strongly associated with education and rurality. Sixty-seven per cent of respondents with a degree compared with 46% of those with no qualifications think that smoking in restaurants should be banned. Support for a ban is much higher in accessible rural and remote rural areas (62% and 71% respectively) than in the four cities (48%).

Key points from this chapter

• Thirty per cent of respondents were current smokers, which is very close to the proportion of smokers in Scotland as a whole.
• A higher proportion of respondents say they are regularly exposed to other people's smoke in restaurants (36%) and in pubs and bars (55%) compared with other public and private spaces (their own home, other people's home, public transport and work). This suggests that the inclusion of licensed premises in the Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Bill accurately reflects the main locations in which large numbers of people in Scotland are still exposed to second-hand smoke.
• Thirty-nine per cent of respondents avoid pubs and bars and 46% avoid restaurants at least sometimes because they are bothered by other people's smoke.
• Twice as many people support a complete ban on smoking in restaurants as support a ban in pubs and bars (53% compared with 25%).
• However, even among current smokers (who are least likely to support a ban) there is clear majority support for some action to at least restrict smoking in pubs and bars. Just 15% of all respondents think that smoking should continue to be freely allowed in pubs and bars.
• Level of support for a ban on smoking in pubs varies significantly by class - 34% of employers, managers and professionals support a complete ban, compared with 17% of those in routine and semi-routine occupations.

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