Why do Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people smoke?
The early sections of this chapter present a range of unique cultural and historical reasons, as well as socioeconomic factors contributing to higher rates of smoking among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Inasmuch as smoking may be interpreted as a symptom of, and a method for coping with disadvantage, care should be taken to ensure that Indigenous people are not blamed for their smoking behaviour.112 In addition to these factors, members of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities nominate many of the same reasons that the rest of the Australian population give for smoking. Lighting up a cigarette serves many different social and emotional functions in smokers’ lives, whether it be as a dependable part of daily routine, a consolation in bad times, or an aid to relaxation.113 Both the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Tobacco Control Project (NATSITCP)6 and The Forgotten Smokers,112 a report jointly commissioned by the Australian Medical
