Most Romanians have a good opinion about the law that bans smoking in all enclosed public spaces, according to a recent IRES study.

More than 90% of the respondents heard about this law. Moreover, almost 80% of those interviewed have a good and very good opinion about the new rules, and only one in ten people have a bad or very bad opinion about the smoking ban. IRES surveyed more than 2,000 Romanians aged over 18 for this study.

Some 30% of those who go out at least once a year say that the law will affect their habits. Thus, 15% of respondents say they will go out more often, 1% state that they will start to go out once the law will enter into force and 10% claim that the new law will make them go out less often. Meanwhile, 69% of respondents say that the new rules will not influence their habits.

Most of the Romanian non-smokers (61%) have a bad opinion about smokers and eight in ten non-smokers say they don't like to hang around smokers. Moreover, three-quarters say that if they didn't find a non-smoking table when going to a restaurant they would go to another place.

Half of the Romanians say they don't allow smoking in their homes and a quarter say they only allow smoking in some rooms. Only 2% of the respondents to the survey say that smoking is allowed everywhere in their homes.

When it comes to how many Romanians smoke, 75% of the respondents say they don’t smoke tobacco at all, and 25% admit that they smoke (18% say they smoke on a daily basis, and 7% smoke less often). Most of those who smoke on a daily basis are men aged between 18 and 35 who live in urban areas. Smoking incidence is lower in the rural areas.

About 26% of the respondents who smoke spend between RON 1 and RON 30 a week on cigarettes, almost a fifth spend between RON 31 and RON 50, and 30% spend between RON 50 and RON 100.

Some 8% of the smokers consume more than a pack of cigarettes per day, almost a third smoke between 16 and 20 cigarettes, and 37% say they smoke less than ten cigarettes daily. More than half of the respondents smoke their first cigarette within 30 minutes after they wake up.

Kent ranks first among the smokers’ favorite brands (24%), followed by Pall Mall (23%), and Winston (13%). Almost half of the respondents buy cigarettes from neighborhood stores while a fifth goes to supermarkets.

The warning signs on the packs of cigarettes don’t seem to have a significant impact on the smokers, given that, in the last month, 70% of the respondents haven’t thought of quitting after seeing these warnings. However, they have a greater impact on smokers aged over 65, those with basic studies, and women.

A study conducted by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation - University of Washington and released in 2014 shows that 42,000 Romanians die every year from diseases caused by smoking, reports local Economica.net.

More than 11,000 Romanians have been diagnosed with lung cancer in 2012, 9.6% more than in 2008, and over 10,000 of them died, data from the Ministry of Health show. Moreover, 55% of the deaths caused by chronic respiratory disease and 19% of the deaths caused by cardiovascular disease are related to smoking.

In 2012, the Romanian public health system paid RON 1.2 billion (EUR 269 million) for diseases caused by smoking.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com