Does Smoking Affect Voting Behavior?
Does Smoking Affect Voting Behavior?
Individuals who smoke cigarettes appear to be less likely to vote than nonsmokers. The authors of a new study surveyed 11,626 people and found that 17% of those polled were smokers, and daily smokers were 60% less likely to vote than nonsmokers. Lead author Dr. Karen Albright writes, “On one 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.”
Nicotine & Tobacco Research, May 2015