Survey to seek smoker attitudes

The Centre for Substance Use Research (CSUR) in Glasgow, Scotland, is carrying out an in-depth survey of smokers’ attitudes to their habit.

The Smokers’ Survey, which is being funded by the UK smokers’ group, Forest, is open to smokers anywhere in the world.

In announcing the survey, Forest said that anti-smoking campaigners liked to bombard politicians and the media with ‘facts’ about smokers. The most common ‘statistic’ they presented was that 70 percent of smokers wanted to quit, while, more generally, they liked to give the impression that most smokers wished they’d never started.

‘Some smokers probably do fall into one or both of those camps and if you want to quit smoking or switch to a safer alternative such as electronic cigarettes, good luck to you,’ said Forest. ‘That’s entirely your choice.

‘But it’s not the full story. Despite the well-known health risks many smokers say they enjoy smoking and have no wish to stop. Sadly their voices are usually drowned out by politicians, the public health industry and even the media who all think they know better.’

Forest said that to find out what smokers really thought about these and other issues, the CSUR had designed an in-depth survey.

‘It includes questions about your experience of smoking and how you feel about the habit,’ Forest said.

‘It asks whether you feel stigmatised for smoking and what impact quitting would have on you…

‘Most important it invites you to say whether or not you enjoy smoking.

‘You don’t have to answer any questions you don’t want to. All the information you provide will be kept completely anonymous and stored securely.’

Depending on the number of submissions received, the plan is to publish a report that will be free to download and will be distributed to a wide range of interested parties.

The survey can be accessed here: http://www.forestonline.org/