Since January 1, 2003 5,166 Connecticut families have lost a loved one to a smoking related illness
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Mobilize Against Tobacco for Children's Health
Connecticut Survey Results
August 2004

This memo reports the results from a recently completed survey of Connecticut residents. Global Strategy Group, Inc. conducted 400 telephone interviews among a random sample of Connecticut residents between August 28 and August 30, 2004. The margin of error for the sample as a whole is plus or minus 4.9 percentage points at the 95% level of con-fidence. For sub-groups of the population, the margin of error is higher. All total numbers are rounded to the nearest percentage.

Results of the August 2004 survey indicate that there is strong support for the law prohibiting smoking inside all Connecticut workplaces, including offices, restaurants and bars. An overwhelming majority of residents understand the health hazards of secondhand smoke, believe all Connecticut workers should be protected from it, and find restaurants and bars healthier and more enjoyable now that they are smoke-free.

Support For Connecticut’s Smoke-free Workplace Law
By more than a five-to-one margin (85 percent to 14 percent), Connecticut residents support the statewide law prohibiting smoking inside all workplaces, including offices, restaurants and bars. This support comes from a broad-based coalition of voters throughout the state, including 93 percent of De-mocrats, 84 percent of independents and 75 percent of Republicans.

The level of support is consistent across the state. Eighty-eight (88) percent of Hartford residents, 86 percent of Fairfield residents, 85 percent of New Haven residents and 79 percent of residents in the rest of the state support Connecticut’s smoke-free workplace law.
Connecticut Residents Recognize the Benefits of Smoke-Free Public Places and Workplaces

Eight out of ten residents (86 percent) believe that exposure to secondhand smoke is a serious (69 percent) or moderate (17 percent) health hazard. Nine out of ten residents (91 percent) agree that all Connecticut workers should be protected from exposure to secondhand smoke in the workplace.

These concerns translate to the very strong belief among residents (by a margin of 89 percent to 5 percent) that the right of customers and employees to breathe clean air in restaurants and bars is more important than the right of smokers to smoke inside these places.

Additionally, patrons of restaurants and bars in Connecticut indicate that these establishments are healthier and more enjoyable now that they are smoke-free. More than nine out of ten Connecticut resi-dents (93 percent) believe that these places are healthier, and 90 percent feel it is really nice to be able to enjoy restaurants and bars in the state without smelling like smoke at the end of the evening.

Impact on Candidate Support

Finally, the survey shows that residents will express their support for the smoke-free workplace law at the polls. A strong majority of residents (58 percent) indicate that a candidate’s support for the smoke-free law would make them more likely to vote for that particular candidate.

Twenty-eight (28) percent of Connecticut residents say that a candidate’s support for a smoke-free workplace law would make no difference in their vote, while just 11 percent indicate that it would make them more likely to vote against a candidate.


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