Abstract
Compliance with laws making certain environments smoke free has focused mainly on smokers’ behavior, while the role of non-smokers has scarcely been investigated. Our cross-sectional study interviewed 4043 adults (2037 smokers and 2006 non-smokers) in the general population of Greece during April 2009. Non-smokers reported that they would actively work for compliance with the law. The non-smokers were older, more educated (odds ratio, OR 1.4), and were more likely to be annoyed by the smell of environmental tobacco smoke (OR 2.4) or report that it irritates their eyes (OR 1.8). Policymakers should evaluate how non-smokers could actively support smoke-free laws through reporting of violations using media campaigns that inform them of their rights, and other measures.
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Acknowledgements
Project funding was provided by the Hellenic Ministry of Health and Social Solidarity (Yiannis Tountas). Part of the work was funded by the Hellenic Action for Research against Tobacco (HEART) project funded by the Behrakis foundation. Constantine Vardavas is currently supported by a Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute (FAMRI) grant for research into second-hand smoke.
Constantine Vardavas had the main role in data interpretation, manuscript preparation, and data analysis. Christine Dimitrakaki and Filippos Filippides participated in manuscript preparation and data collection. Evridiki Patelarou and Gregory N. Connolly participated in manuscript preparation and data analysis whereas Yiannis Tountas was the principal investigator and participated in study design, data interpretation, and manuscript preparation.
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A survey in Greece suggests how the attitudes of non-smokers may favorably affect the success of tobacco control programs.
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Vardavas, C., Dimitrakaki, C., Schoretsaniti, S. et al. The role of the non-smoker in enforcing smoke-free laws. J Public Health Pol 32, 46–59 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1057/jphp.2010.45
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/jphp.2010.45