12th State Bans Smoking in Workplaces, Including Restaurants
13th State on Verge of Joining Growing Movement; Three New Developments

Idaho has become the twelfth state to ban smoking in virtually all workplaces including restaurants, and Rhode Island appears poised to join this growing movement, which already also includes hundreds of counties, cities, and towns.

In addition, 19 other states plus DC currently regulate smoking in restaurants by requiring no-smoking sections, and 15 more states and DC restrict -- but do not yet ban -- smoking in private workplaces. FOR COMPLETE LIST OF SMOKING RESTRICTIONS, SEE: http://ash.org/smokingbans.html

This movement to ban rather than simply restrict smoking in public places is likely to accelerate because of three recent developments, says law professor John Banzhaf, Executive Director of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), the national antismoking organization responsible for starting the nonsmokers’ rights movement.

The FIRST is the growing realization of how dangerous tobacco smoke pollution is for both customers and workers.  It is estimated to kill more than 50,000 Americans each year, including thousands of children.  A study in the April 5th British Medical Journal showed how a workplace smoking ban in Helena, Montana, reduced hospital admissions for heart attacks by 40% during the several months that it was in place.

The SECOND is a study showing how New York City's smoking ban, rather than killing the Big Apple's restaurant and bar industry, actually seems to have helped.  This study may have more impact than similar studies of the earlier California smoking ban because New Yorkers have never been regarded as anywhere near as health conscious as residents of the Golden State.

The THIRD factor is a decision by a respected federal judge ruling that even New York City's very comprehensive smoking ban is constitutional, and does not run afoul of more than half a dozen constitutional provisions cited by smokers in an effort to overturn the ban.

One measure of how rapidly public attitudes regarding smoking bans are changing occurred recently in Rhode Island when former ban opponents Governor Carcieri, and the Rhode Island Hospitality and Tourism Association, both decided to back the measure to ban smoking.

"It is time that Rhode Island join other progressive states in enacting reasonable measures to protect all workers," Carcieri said in a statement. "This bill would provide Rhode Island workers with important protections from the dangers of secondhand smoke. I support this bill as it is currently written."  Last year the governor had concerns about the ban's impact on private clubs.

The hospitality association has long opposed a ban, saying it was something the market should dictate. The group changed its position this year, supporting the measure as long as it applies to all public places. "We don't think there should be exemptions," the group's lobbyist, Brian A. Goldberg, said. "We think it should be a level playing field for all."

"There is a growing recognition that smoking, like certain other activities, should be restricted to consenting adults in private, and that those who desire to smoke tobacco are entitled to no more consideration than those who choose to chew and spit tobacco," said Banzhaf.

He notes that at least fifteen states have now recognized that smoking in the presence of a child can be grounds for denial of custody, that outdoor smoking bans are also proliferating, that Maine prohibits foster parents from smoking in the home or car when a foster child is present, and that Spruce Grove in Edmonton, Canada, has passed novel legislation banning smoking in any public place which is open to minors.

 

PROFESSOR JOHN F. BANZHAF III
Executive Director and Chief Counsel
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
2013 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006, USA
(202) 659-4310 //  http://ash.org