A new study concludes smokers need to be better informed about the risks of smoking in their homes and that only a ban really works.
Photo Credit: CBC

Public smoking bans rarely change rules at home

After a law was passed banning smoking in public buildings, smokers rarely changed smoking rules in their own homes, according to a  new study. A group of smokers were studied one month before a ban was put in place, and 18 months afterwards.

There were very few who did later ban smoking at home. A co-author of the study Sylvia Kairouz of Concordia University said there were three likely reasons:

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Prof. Sylvia Kairouz says that a smoker living alone is unlikely to ban smoking at home. © Concordia University

“It’s a matter of who’s around in the house and it’s about whether they’re really aware of the consequences of second-hand smoking on other people, and whether they believe that strategies that they used like opening the windows, smoking under the kitchen hood (above the stove). All those measures are not efficient for evacuating smoke outside the home.”

ListenKairouz says those who banned smoking understood the dangers of second-hand smoke and the inefficiency of measures to evacuate smoke from the house. If they had non-smokers in the home, especially children, they were more likely to not allow tobacco use there.

Kairous concludes smokers need to be better informed about the health risks from smoke in their homes and that strategies other than a ban do not work.
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