Because municipalities in Alaska are able to exempt themselves from this legislation, it is not considered to be a comprehensive smokefree indoor air policy.
A Healthy People objective calls for an increase in the number of states, territories and the District of Columbia that prohibit smoking in worksites, restaurants and bars. Virgin Islands prohibit smoking in restaurants. Idaho, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Oklahoma prohibit smoking in government worksites but not in private worksites.
Since , several states enacted smokefree indoor air laws. Twenty-three states, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and Palau do not yet have in place comprehensive smokefree indoor air laws covering all bars, restaurants, and worksites. Local and state governments are responsible for deciding whether it is appropriate to address this problem through governmental action.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The importance of extinguishing secondhand smoke. Accessed July 22, State-specific secondhand smoke exposure and current cigarette smoking among adults—United States, Tobacco Control State Highlights Data on state smoking restrictions for this report were obtained from CDC's State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation STATE System database, which contains tobacco-related epidemiologic and economic data and information on state tobacco-related legislation.
The STATE System contains information on state tobacco-related laws, including smoke-free policies, in effect since the fourth quarter of In addition to information on state smoking restrictions in worksites, restaurants, and bars, the STATE System contains information on state smoking restrictions in other venues, including government worksites, commercial and home-based child care centers, multiunit housing, vehicles, hospitals, prisons, and hotels and motels.
The number of states with comprehensive smoke-free laws in effect increased from zero on December 31, , to 26 states on December 31, Table 1. In , Delaware became the first state to implement a comprehensive smoke-free law, followed by New York in , Massachusetts in , and Rhode Island and Washington in The years listed are the years in which the laws took effect; in some cases the laws were enacted in a preceding year.
Some state laws were expanded gradually or phased in; in these cases, the year provided is the year when the law first applied to all three of the settings considered in this study. Additionally, while most of these laws were enacted through the state legislative process, Arizona, Ohio, South Dakota, and Washington enacted their laws through ballot measures.
As of December 31, , in addition to the 26 states with comprehensive smoke-free laws, 10 states had enacted laws that prohibit smoking in one or two, but not all three, of the venues included in this study Table 2. Additionally, eight states had passed less restrictive laws e. Finally, seven states have no statewide smoking restrictions in place for private worksites, restaurants, or bars Table 2. Of note, only three southern states Florida, Louisiana, and North Carolina have laws that prohibit smoking in any two of the three venues examined in this report, and no southern state has a comprehensive state smoke-free law in effect Figure.
Smoke-free laws substantially improve indoor air quality, reduce SHS exposure and related health problems among nonsmokers, help smokers quit, change social norms regarding the acceptability of smoking, and reduce heart attack and asthma hospitalizations The findings in this analysis indicate that the United States made considerable progress during the past decade in increasing the number of states with comprehensive smoke-free laws that prohibit smoking in all indoor areas of worksites, restaurants, and bars, and increasing the number of U.
As of December 31, , 26 states have implemented comprehensive smoke-free laws, and almost half Before Delaware passed its smoke-free law in , no state had adopted a comprehensive law making private workplaces, restaurants, and bars smoke-free. California's state smoking restrictions were enacted in , but the law allows exemptions for smoking in ventilated employee smoking rooms, an exemption that remains in effect. Although a Utah law prohibiting smoking in restaurants took effect in , smoking was still allowed in worksites and bars in that state until Comprehensive smoke-free laws were rare even at the local level until the s.
In , the community of San Luis Obispo, California, adopted the first law in the United States eliminating smoking in bars. During the s, smoke-free bar laws were largely limited to communities in California and Massachusetts. The progress made during the past decade in enacting comprehensive state smoke-free laws is an extraordinary public health achievement.
In the span of 10 years, smoke-free workplaces, restaurants, and bars went from being relatively rare to being the norm in half of the states and DC. Several factors appear to have contributed to this outcome. First, smoke-free laws increasingly were viewed as a worker protection measure that should apply to all employees, including those in restaurants and bars 1.
Second, as state and local smoke-free laws were enacted across the country, other states and communities learned from the experiences of similar jurisdictions and were able to adapt and implement such laws 1,7. For example, New York City's adoption of a comprehensive smoke-free law in drew substantial news media coverage and established that a smoke-free law could be implemented successfully in a large, diverse, metropolitan setting 1.
Finally, the Surgeon General's report, The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke 1 , presented several important conclusions about the health risks associated with SHS exposure and effective protection approaches, generated extensive news media coverage, and was cited by a number of state and local policymakers as influencing their decisions on this topic.
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Our service is free and we are here to help you. Smokefree Air Laws. Section Menu. More information on secondhand smoke: American Lung Association factsheet on the health effects of secondhand smoke American Lung Association information and resources on smokefree multi-unit housing More detailed information on state smokefree laws 1 The 28 states are: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas.
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