State Smoke-Free Laws for Worksites, Restaurants, and Bars—United States, 2000–2010

April 22, 2011 / Vol. 60 / No. 15

MMWR Highlights

Findings

• 25 states and the District of Columbia have implemented comprehensive smoke-free laws.
  • Comprehensive smoke-free laws prohibit smoking in indoor areas of workplaces, restaurants and bars.
  • In the span of ten years, smoke-free workplaces, restaurants and bars went from being relatively rare to being the norm in half of the United States.
• 10 states have adopted partial, but not comprehensive smoke-free laws (e.g. smoke-free workplaces and restaurants, but not bars).
• 8 states have less restrictive laws, such as those that allow smoking in designated areas or areas with separate ventilation.
• 7 states have no statewide smoking restrictions, though some cities and counties in these states have comprehensive local laws.
• No Southeastern state has a comprehensive smoke-free law in effect.

Smoke-Free Progress

• If smoke-free activity is sustained nationally and intensified in certain regions, all states will be smoke-free by 2020.
  • Factors that contributed to the increase in state smoke-free laws from 2000 through 2010 include the following:
    • Smoke-free laws increasingly were framed as a worker protection measure that should apply to all employees, including those in restaurants and bars.
    • The 2006 release of the Surgeon General’s Report on The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke generated extensive news media coverage and was cited by a number of state and local policymakers as influencing their decisions on this topic.

Background

• Approximately 88 million nonsmokers aged three and older are still exposed to secondhand smoke.
• Secondhand smoke exposure causes death and disease in both nonsmoking adults and children.
• There is no safe level of exposure.
  • Separately enclosed and ventilated smoking rooms are not effective in completely eliminating secondhand smoke exposure.
  • The only way to fully protect nonsmokers is to eliminate smoking in indoor spaces.
• Continued efforts to reduce secondhand smoke exposure in all settings are needed to ensure that all nonsmokers are protected from this hazard.
• Workplaces and homes continue to be main sources of secondhand smoke exposure.
• 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.