Smoking, Stigma, And The Purification Of Public Space Analysis

Anytime you can stop a person from lighting up a cigarette, whether they resent the fact or not, you’re doing them a favor”- (Poland). In Poland’s article, Smoking, Stigma, and the Purification of Public Space, he addresses the many problems smokers go through in a day. From public ostracization because of health concerns, to restrictions on when and where they can smoke in public spaces. Smokers tend to smoke more often when surrounded by other smokers, as well as hide the fact that they smoke the more it is made to seem shameful. Throughout the nineties’ many governments used public policy to ban smoking in public establishments such as restaurants, grocery stores, and bars, though these laws were rarely enforced legally, the public behavior
and attitude towards smoking discourages many smokers. Many campaigns such as “Keep America Clean” or anti-smoking educational programming, increased the hostility towards smokers in many parts of the world (Poland). It is implied that public opinion, or shaming smokers, decreased the number of smokers in America more than the restrictions placed in cities. Social stigmas reduce smoking in public places more than restrictions placed within an establishment or business, it is more inconvenient to be viewed shamefully by one’s peers than it is to stand outside in the rain or snow to smoke.
When questioning smokers on their opinions on the restrictions placed in the Brantford study, almost all were supportive of the principle of the existence of the restrictions, and more than half believed that the restrictions helped them cut back, or quit (Poland).
One interviewee described smoking at her desk at work with other coworkers who smoked, which is no longer allowed, and described smoking much more often in this situation than she could now with the new restrictions. The candidate also described feeling judged when smoking in public, and would refuse to smoke in the places she felt people would “turn up their noses” at her (Poland). Another interviewee stated that while the new restrictions encouraged people to cut down on their cigarette intake or quit smoking altogether that she believed that smokers would just hide their addictions better. Closet smokers would become the new norm as the stigma around smoking would become larger and larger, making smokers “hide out with the rest of the lepers”
(Poland).
Although this jump in public opinion has been considered a public health victory, the newly founded stigma on these everyday people has decreased the value of life.
In the interviews one candidate stated that “Everyone makes a smoker feel guilty. I know I felt terribly guilty. When I smoked, I felt like I had the plague. You know, like I’m an unclean, unfit person because I smoked, and that’s a terrible feeling. Do you know what that does to you, really? That makes you feel like hell” (Poland). Many statements such as these were recorded throughout the interview, showing just how bad it has been portrayed to be a smoker. The stereotypical smoker portrayed in the educational programs geared against tobacco as homeless, unemployed, unskilled manual workers, and welfare recipients (Poland). This is a far cry from the formerly prominent smoker imaging, the “fat cat on Wall street,” or the cool teenagers who smoke while racing cars (Kleiser), or even cartoon characters who smoked big cigars (Craig). While these demographics were still very much smoking, it was the blue collar, working class people who were punished the most in social settings, as the stigma had grown to
large.
Although many of the smokers interviewed classified themselves as a “Considerate Smoker” almost all of them admitted to feeling guilt and shame, while the select few that expressed anger and resistance at the reaction the public had to them smoking, even in the designated area. Smokers who considered themselves considerate didn’t feel comfortable smoking in front non-smokers unless they knew them well, or were comfortable around them. One candidate compared it to smoking in front of her father, “Once you know if a person is accepting and it doesn’t offend them then you’re put at ease” she’s recorded saying, until one is comfortable, they won’t light a cigarette (Poland).
While the smoking laws in place makes the life of a smoker harder, there are many reasons why the laws are beneficial to the public, including the smoker. In 1996 the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) officially classified tobacco as a drug, the FDA defines a drug as any product “intended to affect the structure or any function of the body” (David A. Kessler). This classification gave the FDA the power to restrict the sale and promotion of cigarettes and other tobacco products. The discovery that nicotine was in fact an addictive substance, despite skewed studies done by tobacco companies stating otherwise (Stanton A. Glantz).