A new study by the University of Colorado Cancer Center has revealed that smokers are less likely to vote than their non-smoking peers.

The study is based on data from the Colorado Tobacco Attitudes and Behaviors Study (C-TABS). Study’s lead author Karen Albright of the Colorado School of Public Health said that the disinterest in voting is due to the increased marginalization of smokers.

Albright informed that there are many studies smokers are less likely to be a part of different organizations, participate in different activities and lack interpersonal trust.

Albright and her team carried out the study via random digital dialing on 11,626 people. The findings revealed that 17% of respondents were smokers and 60% of them are less likely to vote.

However, it was still not very clear why smokers were not willing to vote. It has been speculated that they view political institutions as oppressors as the government has now stringent laws and heavy taxes on tobacco.

The other possibility might be regarding the stigma attached to smoking. Smoking usually leads to depression and withdrawal symptoms among voters, which would decrease voting.
Levinson and colleagues are in the process to analyze more in order to determine the smokers’ feelings toward the political system.

She said, “We’re getting a clearer picture of the ‘what’ and soon I hope it will be time to talk to individual smokers in these populations to start exploring the ‘why”.

The research is important to in order to determine whether it’s required to work on special incentives to bring back smokers into the mainstream or let them feel marginalized in a political system. The attitude of smokers towards political system will have far-reaching implications in the long run.