addiction

Workplace Smoking Bans and Restrictions

IMPACT:

LOCUS:

ORIGIN: Community Guide systematic review

Publication Date: 12/07/2009

Author(s): NPO Staff

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 in annual lost productivity and healthcare expenditures. CDC: Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Years of Potential Life Lost, and Productivity Losses—United States, 2000–2004.

The Law:

Smoking bans and restrictions prohibit smoking in specified areas. These restrictions aim to eliminate or reduce exposure to second hand smoke.  Smoking bans and restrictions are found in state and local laws as well as regulations governing workplace safety. For examples of state smoking regulations, 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:

In a systematic review, a Community Guide expert panel reviewed 10 studies that assessed the effectiveness of smoking bans and restrictions as means of reducing exposure to secondhand smoke in workplaces. Hopkins DP et al. Reviews of Evidence Regarding Interventions to Reduce Tobacco Use and Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke. Am J Prev Med 2001; 20(2S). Some of the underlying studies measured the impact of specific smoking restriction laws; others measured the impact of policies initiated and enforced by private entities. The reviewers identified reductions in self-reported exposure or actual nicotine vapor in 9 of the 10 studies. Reductions in vapor measures ranged from 44 percent to 97 percent.

The Bottom Line:

In the judgment of a Community Guide expert panel, there is strong evidence supporting smoking bans and restrictions as effective public health interventions aimed at decreasing exposure to secondhand smoke. 

Additional Information:

An interactive map from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation gives policy-makers and advocates a nationwide picture of continuing state efforts on key tobacco control policies.

Additional Resources: Smoke-free Laws by State

Categories:
Cigarette Excise Taxes and Tobacco Cessation

IMPACT:

LOCUS:

ORIGIN: Community Guide systematic review

Publication Date: 12/07/2009

Author(s): NPO Staff

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 in annual lost productivity and healthcare expenditures. CDC: Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Years of Potential Life Lost, and Productivity Losses—United States, 2000–2004.

The Law:

All states have laws that tax cigarettes to discourage continued use. Tobacco Free Kids: Fact Sheet. For example, under California Proposition 99, Cal Rev & Tax Code § 30122-3 (2008), adopted in 1988, cigarette distributors are taxed $0.0125 per cigarette or $0.25 per pack. For other examples of cigarette excise tax laws, see ALM GL ch. 64C, § 6 (Massachusetts) and ORS § 323.030(1) (Oregon).

The Evidence:

In a systematic review, a Community Guide expert panel reviewed 17 studies that assessed the effectiveness of California Proposition 99 and similar cigarette excise tax laws as public health interventions aimed at reducing tobacco use and its associated harms. Community Guide Task Force: Changing Risk Behaviors and Addressing Environmental Change - Tobacco, 27-29. The underlying studies used time-series analyses of aggregate data collected by state authorities to measure price elasticity related to sales or overall consumption trends. According to the reviewers, the findings across the studies suggest that increasing cigarette prices reduces cigarette sales and or consumption. For example, the seven underlying studies focusing on California found that the $0.25 per pack tax instituted by Proposition 99 reduced per capita cigarette consumption by 4 – 16 percent in the short term. 

The Bottom Line:

In the judgment of a Community Guide expert panel, excise taxes are an effective public health intervention aimed at decreasing the amount of cigarettes purchased and the prevalence of smoking. The effects are generally proportional to the size of the tax increase.  

Additional Information:

Tobacco Free Kids provides online access to a number of resources including informative briefs and fact sheets.

The National Conference on State Legislatures (NCSL) provides online access to a map illustrating state cigarette excise taxes and tracks cigarette excise tax legislation.

An interactive map from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation gives policy-makers and advocates a nationwide picture of continuing state efforts on key tobacco control policies.

Additional Resources: Tobacco Free Kids, National Conference on State Legislatures, Cigarette Tax Laws by State

Categories: