It’s the time of year for New Year Resolutions and new research shows that attitudes towards smoking are changing in Wales, with support gathering for stronger tobacco control.

The results of ASH Wales’ latest opinion poll, in conjunction with YouGov, reveal significant changes in the way people in Wales view smoking cigarettes and a desire for more to be done by the government to reduce smoking prevalence.

Significantly too, the results reflect the effectiveness of measures to denormalise smoking, with only 55 per cent of respondents saying they view smoking cigarettes as common, compared to 63 per cent in 2017 and 67 per cent in 2016 – a 12 per cent drop in two years.

Tobacco control

When asked about tobacco control measures, 39 per cent of Welsh adults said they felt the government was not doing enough, with only eight per cent saying they were doing too much.

Strikingly it was those in the 18 to 24-year-old age group who were most keen to see more done to limit smoking, with 50 per cent of them saying the government is not doing enough. Among adults in that age group, only five per cent said they thought the government was doing too much.

Meanwhile there was strong support shown for additional tobacco control policies, with 62 per cent of Welsh adults supporting a ban on smoking in all cars and 87 per cent of respondents in favour of increased penalties for selling tobacco to children – including 84 per cent of smokers.

Interestingly too, over half of Welsh adults, 53 per cent, believe that it is unacceptable to expose under 18-year-olds to smoking on TV.

Second-hand smoke

The survey also looked at the extent to which adults in Wales are exposed to second hand smoke and found that 14 per cent of Welsh adults live in a home where someone smokes most days.

They are most likely to be exposed to second-hand smoke while socialising, 71 per cent and while waiting for public transport, 65 per cent.

Those most likely to be exposed to second-hand smoke in their own home from someone else were people living in social housing.

E-cigarettes

Survey participants were asked about vaping in a bid to build a picture of growing cohort of e-cigarette users in Wales.

The survey found that the number of e-cigarette users who are now ex-smokers has increased from 49 per cent in 2017 to 57 per cent in 2018.

Encouragingly the majority of users, 56 per cent, use e-cigarettes to help them to quit cigarettes, keep off tobacco or cut down the amount they smoke.

Health was given as the number one reason for using e-cigarettes by the majority of users.

If you want to stop smoking, Help Me Quit is run by NHS Wales and will help you to find the stop smoking service that best suits you. Contact them on 0800 085 2219 or visit www.helpmequit.wales.