Smoking Ban

Frumkin, Paul. "Fired Up: NE States Wrestle with Smoking Measures." Nation's Restaurant News 37.25 (2003): 4 & 46. Although a majority of the United States is still undecided on the issue of workplace smoking bans, a large portion of northeastern states have started to support them. As of this article, the state of Maine is about to become the fifth state to pass workplace smoking laws. The four previous states to pass comprehensive workplace smoking laws are California, Delaware, New York and Connecticut. Rick Sampson, the president and chief executive of the New York State Restaurant Association, says, "the way things are going, I wouldn't be surprised to see the whole Northeast go smoke-free within a couple of years." (Frumkin 4).

Hyland, Andrew, Vanaja Puli, Michael Cummings, and Russ Sciandra. "New York's Smoke-Free Regulations: Effects on Employment and Sales in the Hospitality Industry." Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly 44 (2003): 9-16. The recent smoking bans that have started to restrict the smoking in public places aren't just raising questions concerning individual freedom, but also one of the economic effect in "hospitality businesses in thirty states or provinces in seven countries" (Hyland 10). The article continues to inspect the other topics including studying the economics of smoke-free regulations, the measures of sales and employment, and analysis of these subjects. Specific terminology is used and presents a scholarly tone to the overall article. In addition, the scholarly tone and terminology is supported by numerous references to outside sources. Businesses as well as economic researchers would find this article very useful in evaluating the effects on employment and sales due to the banning of smoking in public places.

"Observational Survey of Smoking Provisions in Food Service Establishments - Southeast Health District, Georgia, 2001." Morbidity and Morality Weekly Report 52 (2003): 307-9. Exposure and possible death from second hand smoke in the United States is an increasing problem. "Approximately 38,000 deaths are attributable to second hand smoke exposure each year" (Observational Survey of Smoking 307). The state of Georgia doesn't currently have a state law that prohibits smoking in public places. The article states that one of the national health objectives for 2010 is to reduce the general public's exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. This article provides several charts that show the percentage of restaurants that accommodate smokers, non-smokers, or both.

Rather, John. "Extended Smoking Ban supported, Poll Says." The New York Times, 18 Aug. 2002 Long Island:7. The issues surrounding bans on smoking in public areas has raised many doubts in local Government's mind as to the initial effects on local economy. The largest of these concerns is whether or not the general public would support such a ban, especially the restaurant industry. This article says that a phone survey was conducted in Long Island. The survey said that only nine percent would eat out less, compared to twenty-five percent that said they would eat out more. While this article provides no support related to the dangerous health issues related to secondhand smoking, it does provide valuable information regarding the public's support of the smoking ban.

"Secondhand Smoke Exposure among Middle and High School Students." Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 52 (2003): 152-54. Secondhand smoke affects everyone that is around it. Exposure to secondhand smoke causes "approximately 3,000 deaths each year in Texas (Secondhand Smoke 152). This article points out some of the effects linked secondhand smoke exposure such as acute respiratory infections, asthma in children, and other respiratory problems in adults. This article contains a vast amount of statistics that support the banning of smoking in public areas and also that the perception of second hand smoke is harmful reduces the reported exposure to it. Such information would be helpful to citizens and lawmakers that are trying to get a law passed to ban smoking in public places, especially areas that children often go to.

Tang, Hao, David W. Cowling, Jon C Lloyd: Todd Rogers, et al. "Changes of Attitudes and Patronage Behaviors in Response to a Smoke-Free Bar Law." American Journal of Public Health 93 (2003): 611-17. This article suggests that there is a large amount of second hand smoke in a wide variety of public places, but bars seem to be the leading area for second hand smoke. The truth of the matter is, "occupational exposure to ETS [environmental tobacco smoke] has been estimated to be 3.9 to 6.1 times higher among bar workers than among office workers" (Tang 611). As a result, laws enforcing smoking bans in bars have been implemented in certain parts of the United States since 1994. The main purpose of this research was to see if the passing of these laws would cause a decline in patronage as a direct result. The researchers found that as more time passed between the smoking bans being put into place the more people supported the bans and also that smokers were more likely to comply with them.

Viscusi, W. Kip. Smoke-Filled Rooms. Chicago: Chicago UP, 2002. This book points out the general ill health effects of smoking, but offers up that the majority of smokers in the United States and Spain actually overestimate the potential harm. Viscusi tackles the argument that smokers put drain on states health resources by pointing out that their premature morbidity more than makes up for that. This book also points out that the total pay outs from tobacco companies, in civil suits, has totaled two-hundred-forty-three billion dollars

Longo D, Johnson J, Kruse R, Brownson R, and Hewett J. "A Prospective Investigation of the Impact of Smoking Bans on Tobacco Cessation and Relapse." Tobacco Control. 10(2001):267-72. In a collaborative study conducted by numerous Universities across the state of Missouri, it was found that workplaces that institute a non-smoking policy have employees that are more likely to quit smoking compared with those that do not have a smoke-free policy. The study was conducted in hospitals. The research states that despite predictions, the relapse ratio for employees who used to smoke was the same for both smoking and smoke-free workplaces.

A survey Farrelly M, Evans W, and Sfekas A. "The Impact of Workplace Smoking Bans: Results from a National Survey." Tobacco Control. 8:3 (1999):272-277. The back round of this research states that," By 1993, nearly 82% of indoor workers faced some restriction on workplace smoking and 47% worked in 100% smoke-free environments."(Tobacco Control 273) The study found that out of 100,000 workers,