Local
Nearly 30% of Maltese citizens are smokers
By MaltaMedia News
Apr 22, 2007 - 11:02:05 AM

Nearly 30% of all Maltese citizens smoke. While smoking is more prevalent among males, women tend to smoke more heavily, showed a recently conducted opinion survey. With 29.7% of all Maltese declaring they are smokers, sociologist Mario Vassallo found that the deadly habit is present in all the segments of Maltese society, irrespective of age, gender and social class.

Most smokers, 35.6%, are aged between 36 and 50 years of age. Despite widespread information about the hazards of smoking, 31.9% of youths aged between 16 and 25 smoke.

The survey was carried out by telephone on behalf of The Sunday Times among 300 households in Malta and Gozo between April 9th  and 15th .

From a societal perspective, smoking is most common among unskilled persons at 33.3%, followed by white-collar workers at 31.3%. Smoking was less popular among professionals and persons in higher administrative grades at 23.3% and skilled manual workers at 27.7%.

Smoking also seems to be hitting the pockets of Maltese hard, with as many as 56.2% of smokers saying they spend over Lm20 per week and another 27% forking out between Lm5 and Lm10. 67.5% of females and 49.6% of males declared that they spend more than Lm20 a week on cigarettes.

33.7% of all smokers are heavy tobacco users, with 25.8% burning 1 to 40 cigarettes a day and 7.9% lighting up between 41 to 60 times daily.

Most non-smokers, at 69.7% declared that they had never smoked, while the rest admitted that they had smoked to varying degrees. Of all current non-smokers, 7.1% used to "smoke a lot", while 23.2% used to "smoke a little".

59.6% of smokers said they picked up the habit because they were influenced by 'friends'. Others associated smoking with a desirable lifestyle.

Although 77.5% of the interviewees readily acknowledged smoking is nothing but "a bad habit", they added that quitting is “very difficult”.

Stronger deterrents have been called for by 82.3% of all Maltese, who want more graphic warnings on cigarette packets, possibly incorporating striking pictures of the effects of smoking on the human body.

93.7% also agree that urgent measures prohibiting the sale of cigarettes to persons under the age of 16 should be introduced. With regards to a law prohibiting smoking in public places, as many as 38.7% said it "not always" being observed. Discos and other entertainment places appear to be where the law is being defied most.

© Copyright 2007 by MaltaMedia.com