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What Are the Pros of Smoking Bans?

Smoking bans are laws that disallow smoking in public places such as restaurants, bars, offices, schools and shopping centers. Smoking bans affect the tobacco user and the recipients of secondhand smoke. Research studies in communities across the country show the pros of smoking bans.

  1. Less Secondhand Smoke

    • The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. National Toxicology Program and the International Agency for Research on Cancer have concluded that secondhand smoke causes cancer. It is considered environmental tobacco smoke. People who breathe in secondhand smoke receive the same chemicals and nicotine as smokers. A smoking ban reduces the amount of secondhand smoke emitted into the environment and reduces secondhand smoke exposure to nonsmokers. The reduction of secondhand smoke also minimizes the risk of cancer.

    Helps Smokers Quit

    • The number of cigarettes smoked decreases with a smoking ban. The amount of the decrease is so large that more people decide to quit smoking altogether. According to the Mayo Clinic Nicotine Dependence Center, the number of brain receptors that crave nicotine increase from inhaling tobacco. As the receptors decrease, the need to smoke decreases, which results in less or no smoking. Smoking bans also provide people a reason to stop smoking because it is an inconvenience to find somewhere to smoke.

    Fewer Heart Attacks

    • Cities that have bans on smoking in public places have seen a drop in the number of heart attacks among its community members, according to the Journal of the American Heart Association. Smoking bans implemented in more public places can prevent up to 225,000 heart attacks per year, according to the University of Kansas medical school. Cigarette smoke affects the heart within minutes, causing the blood around the heart to become sticky and cause clotting. Smoking bans lower the risk of heart attacks among smokers and nonsmokers.

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