Overview
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Smokefree Air Results
from Pueblo, CO
A study conducted in Pueblo, CO found that the number of heart attacks fell by 27 percent in the 18- month period following the implementation of a smokefree workplace law. A Helena, MT study released in 2004 showed similar results.38 |
Smokefree Air (cont'd...)
Benefits of Smokefree Air Policies
Comprehensive smokefree air laws have been effective in reducing exposure to secondhand smoke, increasing the number of people who quit and discouraging kids from starting to smoke. The NCI found that being employed in a workplace where smoking is prohibited is associated with a reduction in the number of cigarettes smoked per day and an increase in the success rate of smokers who are attempting to quit.36
Prohibiting smoking in the workplace can have an immediate and dramatic impact on the health of workers and patrons. A study in the August 2005 issue of Tobacco Control found that since New York state’s smokefree workplace law went into effect in July 2003, bar and restaurant workers are suffering fewer sore throats, runny noses and irritated eyes. The study also found that cotinine levels in study participants declined by 78 percent within the first year after the law went into effect.37
Numerous studies have shown that smokefree air laws have either no effect or a positive effect on the economy. In Florida, a study by the Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Florida found that the statewide smokefree law, which took effect July 1, 2003, has not hurt sales or employment in the hotel, restaurant and tourism industries.39 In New York City, a study found that its smokefree air law has had a positive effect on the economy. Since the smokefree air law took effect, business receipts for restaurants and bars have increased 8.7 percent, employment has risen (2,800 seasonally adjusted jobs) and cotinine levels in nonsmoking workers have decreased by 85 percent.40 A Harvard School of Public Health study found that Massachusetts’ smokefree law did not affect sales or employment in bars and restaurants following the implementation of that state’s comprehensive law.41
Smokefree air laws are increasingly popular with the public. Two major hotel chains—Westin and Marriott—announced in 2006 that they would only offer nonsmoking rooms.
New public opinion research conducted in the spring of 2006 also found that out of a sample of 1,000 registered voters, 69 percent favored a comprehensive smokefree air law that included restaurants and bars and only 29 percent were opposed.42
Overview continued... |
