Support strongest among those who go out to eat or drink most often

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Appleton, March 23, 2009—A new poll released today shows strong support for Appleton’s comprehensive smoke-free ordinance. The poll found an overwhelming 75% of Appleton residents favor the law, which applies to all workplaces, including bars and restaurants, in the city.

The poll, conducted by the nationally recognized polling firm The Mellman Group, also found support for the ordinance is strongest among those who go out to bars and restaurants the most. Fully 79% of people who go out at least once a week support the ordinance.

“This is strong evidence the vast majority of people in Appleton, and especially the ones who patronize area bars and restaurants most frequently, prefer smoke-free air,” said Shawn Boogaard, of Clean Air Works, the local citizen group which supported the Appleton ordinance.

According to the poll, 3 in 4 voters think the law has worked well and want it to stay in place and more than half say they’re more likely to go out to eat or drink because of the ordinance, compared with only 6% who say they’ll go out less.

Moreover, fully 83% of voters surveyed say they believe secondhand smoke is a health hazard.

“It makes sense,” explains Boogaard. “Most people don’t smoke and most people understand that secondhand smoke is a serious health hazard.  Going smoke-free benefits everyone— patrons, workers and business owners. People truly appreciate and take advantage of smoke-free environments.”

The poll also found 76% of respondents overall and 53% of smokers believe the rights of customers and employees to breathe smoke-free air takes precedence over the rights of smokers to smoke inside public places including bars and restaurants.

Support for the ordinance is bipartisan. The poll found more than 70% of Democrats, Republicans and Independents all favor the law. Similar support was found among men and women as well.

“Appleton is among a growing number of communities and entire counties in Wisconsin passing comprehensive smoke-free ordinances,” added Boogaard. “The popularity of Appleton’s ordinance is just one more reason for other communities and the state to pass a smoke-free law. Everyone deserves the right to smoke-free air at work.”

 The poll included a random citywide sample of 400 likely voters and was conducted from February 23-25. The poll, which was commissioned and paid for by SmokeFree Wisconsin, has a margin of error of +/- 4.9 percentage points.