Poll: Americans favor ban on smoking in public

Sometime between 2008 and 2011, when Gallup did not ask this question, attitudes shifted from a majority of Americans being against making smoking in public places illegal to a majority being in favor of making it illegal.

While the majority of Americans are currently in favor of making smoking in public places illegal, only 19% are in favor of making smoking in the U.S. completely illegal. The percentage who are in favor of making smoking totally illegal in the country has been largely steady since Gallup began asking this question in 1990, but it has ticked up slightly in recent years. From 1990 to 2001, an average 13% of Americans supported banning smoking completely. However, in the last two years, the average rose to 21%.