Most Americans Support Public Smoking Ban

Odds are, if you smoke in public these days, you'll get some dirty looks. For the first time ever, the majority of Americans support a ban on smoking in all public places, according to a new Gallup poll. But while 59% support such a ban, only 19% think smoking should be entirely illegal. And how many Americans are smokers? Just 22% of adults reported smoking cigarettes during the week prior to the poll.

When Gallup first asked the question in 2001, only 39% were in favor of a public smoking ban, and that number remained steady through 2007—the last time the group asked the question until this month. "Support for the control of smoking through legal means goes only so far," reads the report. "Relatively few Americans support the idea of making all smoking illegal across the country—perhaps partly in recognition of the practical difficulties involved in enforcing such a ban." (More anti-smoking stories.)