Local
Publication Date: 02/02/2011
The Problem:
Tobacco use is a source of chronic and fatal illnesses for users and persons with secondary exposure. In the United States, cigarette smoking contributes to one in five deaths and costs more than $193 billion annually in lost productivity and healthcare expenditures. CDC: Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Years of Potential Life Lost, and Productivity Losses—United States, 2000–2004. Nearly 25 percent of annual deaths related to cardiovascular disease in the United States can be attributed to smoking and cigarette smokers are 2 to 3 times more likely to die from cardiovascular disease than non-smokers. CDC: The Health Consequences of Smoking. Complete Report. 2004
The Law:
Smoking bans and restrictions prohibit smoking in specified areas. These restrictions aim to eliminate or reduce exposure to secondhand smoke. Smoking bans and restrictions are found in state and local laws as well as regulations governing workplace safety. For examples of state smoking bans, see ARS 36-601.01 (Arizona), Utah Health Code § 26.83.3 (Utah), VT Health Code § 1742 (Vermont), and RI Health & Safety Code § 23-20.10-3 (Rhode Island).
The Evidence:
Meyers et al. performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of 11 studies that assessed the impact of public smoking bans (including workplaces) on the incidence of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) on the general population. Meyers et al. Cardiovascular effect of bans on smoking in public places: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Am Coll Cardiol, 2009; 54:1249-1255. Studies were drawn from the United States, Canada, Italy, and Scotland. The authors used a random effects meta-analysis to control for differences in study population size and duration of observations. The meta-analysis found that public smoking bans reduce the risk of AMI by 17 percent, and this risk continues to decrease each year after ban implementation. Meyers et al. suggest that the duration of the post-ban effect may be explained by greater compliance to bans, decreased prevalence of smoking, improved air quality, and reduced environmental exposure to tobacco.
The Bottom Line:
According to a peer-reviewed systematic review and meta-analysis, substantial evidence suggests that public smoking bans effectively reduce the risk of acute myocardial infarction.
Alcohol Policy Information System
The Alcohol Policy Information System (APIS) (APIS) provides detailed information on a wide variety of alcohol-related policies in the United States at both State and Federal levels. Detailed, state-by-state, information is available for the 35 policies listed below. APIS also provides a variety of informational resources of interest to alcohol policy researchers and others involved with alcohol policy issues.
Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation
Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation has tracked, collected, and analyzed tobacco control laws around the country since the early 1980s, and the lists below represent only a small percentage of the data. Learn more about their comprehensive collection of state and local laws, covering: clean air, restrictions on youth access to tobacco, tobacco advertising and promotion restrictions, tobacco excise taxes, and conditional use permits
State and federal laws removing paint from gasoline and from the paint used in homes were put in place decades ago. Overall, they have been very effective in reducing the number children who are poisoned by lead. But there are still numerous “hot spots” where children (particularly low-income, minority children living in older neighborhoods) continue to be poisoned by lead at alarming levels. Those children simply have not been reached by the protections of the state and federal laws. In order to find out whether local laws can be an effective tool to reach these children we will take a close look at a local housing inspection law put into place in Rochester, New York in 2006, and will look as well at laws in several other cities, to see if and how local legislation can be used as a tool to more effectively to fill the gap. The results of the study will be available to lawmakers, community advocates, policy analysts and scholars interested in evaluating or enacting local laws in their own communities.
Grant Number: 68390
Funding Date: Mon, 11/15/2010
Researching Institution: University of Rochester Medical Center
Researcher: Katrina Korfmacher, M.S., Ph.D.; Michael Hanley, J.D.
State and local governments make important decisions about how resources and services—including public health services--are provided to citizens. Examples of these decisions include how much decision-making autonomy local governments are given by the state, or the powers of local boards of health to impose public health taxes, and whether the public health delivery system provides basic or comprehensive services to the community. This study will examine how these decisions impact population health. Based on the findings, this study will make recommendations for state legislation that will position local public health systems for optimal impact on population health.
Grant Number: 68395
Funding Date: Mon, 11/15/2010
Researching Institution: University of Kentucky College of Public Health
Researcher: Julia Costich, M.P.A., J.D., Ph.D.; Dana Patton
While states have passed statutory rape laws for a variety of reasons, many of them have viewed these laws, in part, as a mechanism to reduce rates of teenage pregnancy. This project will explore whether statutory rape laws, and the way in which they are enforced, contribute to a reduction in both teenage pregnancy rates and rates of various sexually transmitted diseases (STD). The researchers will evaluate the general impact of statutory rape laws while appropriately accounting for the different ways in which states structure their statutory rape provisions.
Grant Number: 68389
Funding Date: Mon, 11/15/2010
Researching Institution: Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR)
Researcher: Matthew Harding, Ph.D.; Michael Frakes, J.D., Ph.D.
This study examines the policies and structures of local and state health departments, and how they impact public health. The study will focus on the structural arrangements of the local boards of health (such as whether the boards of health are elected or appointed) and the level of state health department centralization, and how they affect performance, fiscal health, innovation, collaboration, and strategic planning. In addition to contributing to the ongoing dialogue regarding health department accreditation, this study will provide a road map for policy makers, planners, administrators and individual citizens for years to come.
Grant Number: 68400
Funding Date: Mon, 11/15/2010
Researching Institution: University of Illinois
Researcher: Scott Hays, Ph.D.
Dental erosion is a widespread and increasing problem. This study will answer the question of what law and legal practices impact the consumption and purchase in Central Appalachia of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and citric acid drinks (CADs) that adversely affect oral health. The study will generate original data from dentists and residents of Central Appalachia concerning the oral health of the residents, the consumption and purchase of SSBs and CADs, and the social acceptability to the residents of Central Appalachia of legal interventions regarding the sale and availability of SSBs and CADs.
Grant Number: 68392
Funding Date: Mon, 11/15/2010
Researching Institution: Appalachian School of Law
Researcher: Priscilla Harris, J.D.; J. Anthony von Fraunhofer, PhD, MSc
To maintain their tax-exempt status, federal and state governments require non-profit hospitals to provide benefits to the communities in which they reside. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is developing regulations that require these hospitals to provide more extensive information than previously required about the benefits they are providing to the community. Using data from hospital responses to the new preliminary IRS reporting requirements, this study aims to document which community benefit activities are undertaken and which of these are considered public health activities. The study will also identify those activities that are collaborative efforts between hospitals and public health entities.
Grant Number: 68393
Funding Date: Mon, 11/15/2010
Researching Institution: Saint Louis University
Researcher: Connie Evashwick, Sc.D.; Jesse Goldner, M.A., J.D., Jason S. Turner, Ph.D., M.A.E
Publication Date: 12/07/2009
The Problem:
The leading cause of death for people age 34 and below in the United States is motor vehicle crashes. CDC: Motor Vehicle Safety Factsheet. Crashes occur due to impaired driving, inexperience, faulty vision and general recklessness. In congested areas, pedestrian safety is major public health concern. Approximately 700 children are killed each year by motor vehicles while walking. CDC: Reducing Childhood Pedestrian Injuries: Summary of a Multidisciplinary Conference.
The Law:
Traffic laws are designed to minimize motor vehicle crashes and to improve driver, passenger and pedestrian safety. Enforcing traffic laws can be difficult. Red light cameras take a picture of any car that fails to appropriately abide by a red light thereby endangering other drivers and pedestrians. The pictures are used to issue traffic citations, which often include sizable mandatory fines ($446 in Los Angeles: Photo Red Light Program). Twenty-four states and the District of Columbia have red light programs operating somewhere within their jurisdiction authorized either through state or local law. Governors’ Highway Association: Red Light Cameras. For an example of a state law authorizing the use of red light cameras, see RI Stat 42-28.9
The Evidence:
In a systematic review, Aeron-Thomas and Hess reviewed ten studies measuring the impact of red light cameras on motor vehicle crashes. Aeron-Thomas A, Hess, S. Red-Light Cameras for the Prevention of Road Traffic Crashes. The Cochrane Library. 2009, v.2. The reviewers found that the studies generally identified an association between the red light cameras and reductions in fatal crashes. However, weaker and often statistically insignificant relationships were observed between the cameras and overall crashes. On this basis, the reviewers concluded that there was sufficient evidence to establish the effectiveness of red light cameras as an intervention aimed at reducing fatal crashes, but that additional research is needed to validate the impact of these cameras on overall crashes and reckless driving generally.
The Bottom Line:
In the judgment of a Cochrane Collaborative expert panel, sufficient evidence exists to support red light cameras as an effective public health intervention to reduce motor vehicle crash fatalities, but there is insufficient evidence to validate the effectiveness of the cameras in reducing overall crashes.
Additional Information:
The Governors’ Highway Association provides online access to a table indicating in which states red light cameras are authorized or prohibited under state law.
Additional Resources: Governors’ Highway Association
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Public Health Law Research is a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It is housed at the Temple University Beasley School of Law.