Smoke-Free Policies Improve Health Studies have shown that
smoke-free laws that ban smoking in public places like bars and
restaurants help improve the health of workers.1–4 |Studies
in:||Found that:||Was associated with:| |Scotland
(2006)1||Implementing a comprehensive national smoke-free law
(banning smoking in enclosed public spaces)||Rapid (within 2
months) improvements in a number of health outcomes in
nonsmoking bar workers, including— |Ireland
(2007)2||Implementing a comprehensive national smoke-free law
(banning smoking in all workplaces)||Improvements in the
respiratory health of nonsmoking bar workers, including—
|California (1998)3||Implementing a state law making bars smoke-
free||Improvements in the respiratory health of bartenders,
including— |Additional studies conducted in several communities,
states, regions, and countries have found that implementing
smoke-free laws is associated with rapid and substantial
reductions in hospital heart attack admissions. These reductions
appear to be more pron