NINE OUT of 10 Portuguese support the idea of further restrictions on smoking in public places according to a new study. This includes restrictions on smoking in enclosed spaces such as restaurants, bars and nightclubs.
According to the study carried out by the European Union’s Eurobarometer, Portugal’s attitude against smoking was higher than the EU average.
The study revealed that 92 per cent of Portuguese supported a smoking ban in offices and other enclosed work places, 91 per cent supported a ban in public places such as the metro, airports and shopping centres, while 84 per cent were against smoking in restaurants (EU average was 77 per cent). Some 74 per cent of Portuguese wanted to see smoking banned in bars (EU average was 62 per cent).
The study showed that Portugal is the EU country with the highest percentage of people who have never smoked (64 per cent), but also the country where the highest number of smokers had failed to quit the habit (12 per cent).
In all, one quarter (24 per cent) of all Portuguese in the study were smokers, with 97 per cent of those smoking every day and 38 per cent smoking more than a packet per day.
The study interviewed 28,584 people in the European Union of which 1,006 were living in Portugal.
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