61% Australians support phased tobacco retail ban

According to a study conducted in Australia, a large majority of Australians support measures to phase out the retail sale of tobacco products. These results show that such a policy, once unthinkable, is now feasible, and faces opposition from only a minority of the population.

A team of researchers conducted a survey of a nationally representative panel of 1,874 Australians to assess support for phasing out the retail sale of tobacco products. Such a measure does not mean a ban on the possession or consumption of tobacco products, and would allow individuals, if they wish, to grow their own tobacco plants, and even to import limited quantities of tobacco for personal consumption, as is already the case in Australia for smokeless tobacco products.[1]This study is part of a significant reduction in the prevalence of tobacco use in the country, which makes it possible to envisage the complete elimination of tobacco from society in the coming decades. [2]

Broad support from Australians

More than 61% of respondents thought it would be a "good thing" if there came a time when it would no longer be legal to sell smoked tobacco products in stores, while only 16.7% said that implementing such a measure would be a "bad thing." The remaining 21.23TP3T respondents said that ending retail sales would be neither a bad thing nor a good thing. The level of support for this proposal varied considerably depending on individuals' smoking status: more than two-thirds of respondents who had never smoked supported this measure (67.2%), compared to 62.3% of former smokers. Among those who were smokers at the time of the survey, 39.2% supported the phase-out.

A popular measure for the next ten years

More than a third of respondents indicated that this phase-out measure should be implemented within five years, and 61.8% of them believe it should be effective within the next ten years. The survey also shows clear support for interim measures that could be implemented as part of this phase-out ban. For example, 76.3% of respondents believe that tobacco sales should be restricted to places where children do not have access, and only 10% were opposed to such a measure. Furthermore, nearly two-thirds of respondents stressed that store owners should consider stopping the sale of tobacco products.

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[1] Brennan E, Ilchenko E, Scollo M, et al, Public support for policies to phase out the retail sale of cigarettes in Australia: results from a nationally representative survey, Tobacco Control Published Online First: 03 May, 2022. doi: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2021-057122