Survey: More favor restaurant smoking ban

PRINCETON, N.J., Aug. 7 (UPI) -- Fifty-nine percent of U.S. adults say smoking should be banned in restaurants, up 5 percentage points from 2007, a survey indicates.

However, the USA Today/Gallup telephone -- land line and cellphone -- poll of 1,020 U.S. adults, says 23 percent say there should be no smoking restrictions in bars.

From 1987, when Gallup first started polling on the issue of smoking in public places, the percentage of regular cigarette smokers among the U.S. adult population as measured by Gallup has declined from 30 percent to 22 percent.

Fifty-five percent of those polled say secondhand smoke poses a significant health risk for non-smokers, compared with 36 percent in 1994, the year Gallup first measured opinions involving secondhand smoke.

Currently, half of U.S. states have broad bans on smoking in indoor public places, such as workplaces, public buildings, restaurants and bars. The rest of the states have more limited restrictions, such as requiring designated smoking areas in restaurants and workplaces, or prohibiting smoking only in government buildings and schools.

The poll was conducted July 8-11 and has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.