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Poll: Smokers seem more open to risks in other contexts

People under 40 are more likely to never have smoked
2021 11 17 smoking-cigarette-smoke-pexels-pixabay-70088

A majority of readers are either smokers or have been smokers in the past, an online poll showed last week. Some 3,011 of you voted. 

Proportions of current regular smokers are more or less equal among men and women, but women are much more likely to be never-smokers:

Among readers under 40, the proportion of never-smokers is higher than their elders. The data also shows a tendency to quit smoking more or less in latish middle age, with the number of current smokers falling off after about 60. Interestingly, for those over 40 the percentage of never-smokers is quite consistent. 

People with an unfavourable view of Pierre Poilievre are less likely to be current smokers ...

... but there isn't a clear relationship with views of Justin Trudeau:

Liberals have the highest proportion of never-smokers, followed by the NDP. (The NDP has the highest proportion of current smokers, though.)

Interestingly, people who enjoyed phys. ed. class back in the day are both more likely to be current smokers, and less likely to be never-smokers.

In general, across a number of poll correlations, we see higher smoking rates associated with a greater openness to risk generally:



Patrick Cain

About the Author: Patrick Cain

Patrick is an online writer and editor in Toronto, focused mostly on data, FOI, maps and visualizations. He has won some awards, been a beat reporter covering digital privacy and cannabis, and started an FOI case that ended in the Supreme Court
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