People who smoke are less likely to vote than nonsmokers, according to a new study conducted by researchers at the University of Colorado Cancer Center in Aurora and published in the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research.
voting ballot
The study authors wonder if the stigma experienced by smokers might contribute to voter apathy.
A previous study by Swedish researchers found a link between smoking and "political mistrust." Building on that work, the University of Colorado Cancer Center (CU Cancer Center) study is the first to link a health-risk behavior with electoral participation.
Using random digit dialing, the researchers surveyed 11,626 people over the telephone, as part of the Colorado Tobacco Attitudes and Behaviors Study (C-TABS). The participants were asked questions relating to demographic, social and behavioral factors, including whether they smoked and had voted in a recent election.
The study reports that 17% of those polled were smokers, and that daily smokers were 60% less likely to vote than nonsmokers.
Karen Albright, PhD, assistant professor at the Colorado School of Public Health, and the paper's first author, says of the finding:
"One on hand, the result is intuitive. We know from previous research that smokers are an increasingly marginalized population, involved in fewer organizations and activities and with less interpersonal trust than nonsmokers. But what our research suggests is that this marginalization may also extend beyond the interpersonal level to attitudes toward political systems and institutions."
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/294334.php
