Just out of curiosity do you think more Conservatives smoke than Liberals

[Bandit]

Or do you think it is pretty evenly divided among Americans. I know protecting tobacco interests has been pretty much a Conservative cause but not sure if that relates to the man on the street or not. I believe more Conservatives smoke than Liberals but it isn't based upon any research or facts only ideology. I think the Science on tobacco smoke is believed about the same as the science on Global Warming or Evolution. IOW the propaganda has worked on at least 28% of the population. Is smoking an intelligence issue the same as Global Warming and Evolution or is it just an unlucky addiction that can't be broken even by very intelligent people? Just courious as to opinion here.

[lonestarnot]

1. Who cares?

:smoke:

[Bandit]

Do you care about anything?

Global Warming? You do know that more people die in the USA due to tobacco than any other preventable cause. I think it is a worthy subject.

[Sapere aude]

8. This is just going to be one of our famous smoking good smoking bad threads.

Not worth the time I'm spending on it.

[lonestarnot]

14. Oh hell no!

:sarcasm: Why would I care bout that? :rofl: edit for more :smoke:

[glowing]

2. I don't know? Most people start when they are young, stupid, and

invincible... I don't know any smokers who decided at the age of 30 to start smoking.

[aquart]

3. I don't care. Just don't do it near me.

[MNDemNY]

4. Just a guess, there is

a much higher percentage of the population who smoke in southern states. Maybe a clue. But who knows.

[RamboLiberal]

5. From some of the replies here on DU on anti-smoking threads

I'd say a lot of DU'ers smoke. I do think there is a bit of a socioeconomic factor among adult smokers. May be a bit less among teens.

BTW, I'm a non-smoker. Grew up with 2 parents that smoked during the 60s when smoking was very much the norm. I'm glad I'm now in the majority on this and that most places I go are smokefree.

[Warpy]

6. The higher the level of education, the less a person is likely to smoke

and that's one of the few generalizations out there that holds up under close scrutiny.

The problem with smoking is that it starts when we're teenagers desperate to fit in. It's highly addictive and it's very difficult to quit once started. We were all dumb when we were teenagers and we all did dumb things and it didn't matter whether we later became rich or poor, liberal or conservative, suburbanites or city dwellers. I still don't know whether to laugh or cry at the crap I got into.

I really don't think we can ever point at a person standing outside an office building in the rain desperately trying to suck enough nicotine into his lungs to be able to cope with the next half hour at work without getting too drenched and say he's a Republic. It just doesn't work like that.

[alphafemale]

7. Smoke....what?

I'm just saying.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

9. Addictive behavior affects people of all political stripes...

and intelligence levels, so I have no idea. But one thing is fer sure, Conservatives win hands-down as far as being "victims"--no question about that!

[mmonk]

10. Do you think more conservatives drive cars than liberals?

[RaleighNCDUer]

11. Tobacco producers are all red states, and tobacco taxes are lower in

red states. I think it's a safe bet that there is more tobacco use in red states - that said, liberals in those red states are just as likely to smoke as their conservative neighbors.

Judging from what I've seen.

[Dragonbreathp9d]

12. Fairly even, but prob more liberals to be honest

at least my age - I'm at a VERY liberal college and EVERYONE smokes, alot.

[TahitiNut]

20. Yup. I doubt many smoke at Liberty University or Bob Jones University.

:shrug:

[Beelzebud]

13. Not everything is partisan.

I do think more liberals are judgmental about it than conservatives, but I don't think it's a "left or right" problem. In my personal life I know more liberals that smoke than conservatives.

[orleans]

15. i smoke and i'm a flaming leftie. my neighbor doesn't and she's

a major neocon. my other neighbor is a dem and she doesn't smoke.

what was the question?

[NRaleighLiberal]

16. I do think it transcends politics, and is very complex.

I grew up in a home where I had to endure my mom and dad fighting about it (not enough money, mom saw my dad wasting the money on it - this predates widespread knowledge of health hazards). So I grew up with an extreme hatred of it. I do have to say that smoking makes no logical sense at all, but then again, I eat too much junk food and that makes no logical sense either. All we can do is have our own pro/con view and leave it at that - one of those easily ignitable topics with no real benefits, as far as I can see. We each need to deal with it that fits our own beliefs. What did surprise me was to learn that, when we moved to NC, high schools allowed the students smoking breaks - so, yes, we are in a tobacco - supported (culturally, economically) state. To me, I despise it - the smell, the stigma, etc - so I just be sure that I am nowhere near smokers.

[Bitwit1234]

17. Since they believe in nothing to do with science I bet they do.

We don't have global warming, stem cells research can't help cure diseases, so it just goes right along that line that smoking does not cause lung cancer.

[sinkingfeeling]

18. I think more liberals smoke. It's pure liberalism to make a major decision about

what to do to your own body, in your own home or car, on your own time.

[Solo_in_MD]

27. Liberal or libertarian?

[Orsino]

19. If anyone can show a statistically significant difference...

I'd be interested.

[gilpo]

21. I'm pretty sure more lib's smoke pot....

:evilgrin:

[onenote]

23. I don't know about that

Lots of "rednecks" smoke weed.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

25. My own (un)scientific research suggests otherwise.

I've known just as many R's and I's to fire up as D's.

[onenote]

22. The demographics of smoking

I haven't seen anything that breaks down who smokes by political party. But studies have shown the following:

Older people are less likely to be smokers. Among people aged 55 to 64 years, about 24% are smokers. Between 65 and 74 years the smoking rate drops to 15%, and among those aged 75 or older, the rate is 8%.

By "ethnic" category:
Native American (40.9%).
African American (28.7%).
Caucasian American (25.5%).
Hispanic American (24.1%).
Asian/Pacific Islanders (24.3%).

In a 1999 study of US smokers, the highest smoking rates were in Nevada (31.5%), Kentucky (29.7%), and Ohio (27.6%). The lowest were in Utah (13.9%), Hawaii (18.6%), California (18.7%), Massachusetts (19.4%), and Minnesota (19.5%).

Educational Level
Those with less education have higher smoking rates (37.5% in people educated from grades nine to 11) than those with more education (14% in people educated beyond college).


Based on the foregoing, it would seem plausible that more repubs are smokers than Democrats, but its by no mean a given. Utah is as red a state as you can find, and it has a very low percentage of smokers. More African Americans smoke than caucasian americans, which would trend towards a higher percentage of Democratic smokers.

In my experience, its generally a wash. Most people I know don't smoke regardless of political affiliation. And of my two friends that do smoke rather heavily, one is as hard core a Democratic liberal as I know, while the other is largely apathetic, leaning ever so slightly towards repub, but less and less.

[RaleighNCDUer]

24. "Older people are less likely to be smokers."

Well, that does tend to be a self-eliminating demographic. Hard core smokers who smoke till they die, tend to, well, die. Others, like myself, smoked for years but quit when it became too hard to breath plain air. Either way, the older you get the less likely you are to be a smoker.

[ComerPerro]

26. I don't think you would find enough clear evidence to support a clear split

I imagine you'd find pretty similar percentages.

[Solo_in_MD]

28. There seems to be no corelation between smoking and politics

income and education seem to be better indicators