CDC: Majority of Americans Support Banning All Tobacco Products

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is touting a new study that says the majority of American adults support banning the sale of all tobacco products.

According to a new study published in Preventing Chronic Disease, a CDC journal, 57.3 percent of adults would support a ban on all tobacco sales, while 62.3 percent of those adults support a ban on the sales of menthol cigarettes. Last year, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) announced plans to ban both the sales of menthol cigarettes as well as all flavored cigars.

This is based on a survey of 6,455 adults from March-April 2021.

Respondents were asked two main questions:

1. To what extent would you support a policy to prohibit the sale of menthol cigarettes?
2. To what extent would you support a policy to prohibit the sale of all tobacco products?

They were allowed to reply with one of four options:

• strongly support
• somewhat support
• somewhat oppose
• strongly oppose

The authors state that they weighted results based on demographic data such as age, race, gender, location and income. It also asked respondents about cigarette use (11 percent), menthol cigarette use (6.4 percent) and non-cigarette tobacco use (8.3 percent).

While the authors of the study acknowledge some of the limitations of the study—both the population size as well as the lack of specificity about what the policy would be—it’s likely that studies like this will be cited as justification for further tobacco regulation.