Advancing Tobacco Free Communities says a recent survey they took shows that St. Lawrence County’s smoking rate has dropped from 25 to 19 percent over an unspecified time period and that 96 percent of survey respondents said that smoking should be restricted in some areas.

Advancing Tobacco Free Communities St. Lawrence, Jefferson, and Lewis Counties (ATFC) says their information comes from their recently completed 2015 tri-county Adult Tobacco Assessment Survey.

The anti-tobacco group says 400 residents of each county named above were polled in a random sample and surveyed over the phone by what they call "an independently contacted consulting service, Joel LaLone Consulting."

The survey questions asked about  attitudes and beliefs surrounding tobacco control issues. Some of the questions touched on "restricting tobacco use in outdoor public areas, on college campuses, and inside of multi-unit dwellings as well as about restricting tobacco retailers around schools, covering tobacco products in stores, electronic cigarette use, and current smoking rates," the group said in a statement.

"To help ATFC achieve our program initiatives, smoke-free media, point of sale, smoke-free multi-unit housing, and tobacco-free outdoors, we completed this Adult Tobacco Survey to obtain current data in the tri-county area with five goals in mind; Planning based on current measurements of public opinion and behavior, evaluation of the impact of our past initiative and results, education of the survey participants regarding tobacco issues during the survey process, and engagement of the community through survey participation," according to the statement.

The group claims their survey found in regards to smoke-free media that majority of respondents saying they live in St. Lawrence County "agree that internet sites, social media, movies, and television shows intended for youth should not contain tobacco use or imagery," the anti-tobacco group's statement says. The group says that cohort includes 82 percent who identified as parents of school-aged children and 80 percent who identified as smokers,

They say the survey showed that 96 respondants identifying as St. Lawrence County residents "agreed that smoking should be at least restricted to certain areas," with 71 percent of respondants saying they are "in favor of restricting smoking completely at public playgrounds," the statement says.

"Interestingly, more than half of (respondents who identify as) smokers who answered are in favor of a policy that eliminates smoking at playgrounds," the statement says. "Similarly, more than half of (respondents who identify as) smokers are in favor of a policy that either eliminates or restricts smoking at public outdoor recreational areas such as beaches or campgrounds."

The survey indicated that over half of respondents calling themselves St. Lawrence County residents "are in favor of a policy that would limit the number of stores that can sell tobacco products located within walking distance of school," according to the statement.

Additionally, almost 70 percent of respondents saying they live in St. Lawrence County also "are in support of tobacco retailers being required to keep tobacco products covered or out of view," the statement claims.

In regards to smoke-free multi-unit housing, apartment buildings that allow smoking in all residential units has decreased by 30 percent since 2006, according to the group.

Over half of respondants calling themselves St. Lawrence Country residents that live in multi-unit housing "are in favor of a policy that prohibits smoking everywhere inside their building," the group says.

"St. Lawrence County’s smoking rate has dropped significantly from 25 percent in 2006 to 19 percent, which is on trend with the central, northern, and western NY regional average," the statement says.