Assessment of attitudes toward tobacco laws among adults in Delhi, India

Introduction: After over a decade of enforcement of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act 2003, 25.7% of population nationally and 30.3% in Delhi were still exposed to secondhand smoke. This study assesses the attitude of adults in an urbanized village toward these legislations. Material and Methods: A house-to-house survey was conducted among 490 randomly selected adults in Aliganj, New Delhi. Interview was conducted using the World Health Organization-Global Adult Tobacco Survey tool. Data were analyzed in SPSS version 21. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to study factors associated with attitude toward tobacco-related legislation. Results: Laws prohibiting indoor smoking were favored by 86.3% of participants, and tobacco-related taxation was opposed by 12.4% while 9.3% and 22.3%, respectively, were undecided about their support for the above laws. Prohibiting advertisements promoting tobacco was favored by 82.4%, while 12% were undecided in this regard. Having knowledge regarding the harmful effects of tobacco use was significantly associated with higher odds of supporting these legislations. Conclusion: A sizeable proportion of study participants were undecided on tobacco-related legislations. There is a lack of public support for taxation, especially among the younger population. Violation of existing nonsmoking legislation was observed in almost all sites except schools. Tobacco control legislations such as the existing ones should adopt a targeted and efficient approach with strict implementation strategies.