Boredom kept people smoking more during COVID-19

After years of steady decline, cigarette sales in the US rose last year for the first time in 20 years, in large part because of the pandemic, says Lucy Popova.

In a new study in Nicotine and Tobacco Research, Popova, associate professor in the School of Public Health at Georgia State University, examines how the pandemic and related stressors affected tobacco users’ habits. Many smokers admitted to lighting up more often despite the health risks, including the possibility of severe lung impacts from COVID-19.

For free help in quitting smoking, call 1-800-QUIT-NOW or visit smokefree.gov.

“The purpose of the study was not to find the population trends but to get insight into people’s personal experiences,” Popova says. “We wanted to learn how COVID and related stresses and changes in people’s lives affected them, and how that all translated into their tobacco use.”

Here, she explains how the COVID-19 pandemic affected tobacco use in America:

The post Boredom kept people smoking more during COVID-19 appeared first on Futurity.

from Futurity https://ift.tt/3DraMqF