±ÏÎÞÑÌ

Ô­ÎÄ£ºOther benefits of smoke-free regulations

Smoke-free laws help smokers to reduce smoking or quit

Smoke-free environments not only protect non-smokers, they reduce tobacco use in continuing smokers by 2¨C4 cigarettes a day (76) and help smokers who want to quit, as well as former smokers who have already stopped, to quit successfully over the long term. Per capita cigarette consumption in the United States is between 5% and 20% lower in states with comprehensive smoke-free laws than in states without such laws (77).

Complete workplace smoking bans implemented in several industrialized nations are estimated to have reduced smoking prevalence among workers by an average of 3.8%, reduced average tobacco consumption by 3.1 cigarettes per day among workers who continue to smoke, and reduced total tobacco consumption among workers by an average of 29% (78). People who work in environments with smoke-free policies are nearly twice as likely to quit smoking as those in worksites without such policies, and people who continue to smoke decrease their average daily consumption by nearly four cigarettes per day (79).

After comprehensive smoke-free legislation was enacted in Ireland, about 46% of smokers reported that the law had made them more likely to quit; among those who did quit, 80% reported that the law had helped them to quit and 88% reported that the law helped them to maintain cessation (80). In Scotland, 44% of people who quit smoking said that smoke-free legislation had helped them to quit (81). Smoke-free laws encourage establishment of smoke-free homes

Legislation mandating smoke-free public places also encourages families to make their homes smoke-free (82), which protects children and other family members from exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke (83). In Australia, the introduction of smoke-free workplace laws in the 1990s was accompanied by a steep increase in the proportion of adults who avoided exposing children to second-hand tobacco smoke in the home (84). Even smokers are likely to voluntarily implement a ¡°no smoking¡± rule in their homes after comprehensive smoke-free legislation is enacted (85, 86).

Voluntary smoke-free home policies also decrease adult and youth smoking. Home smoking bans reduce progression to smoking experimentation among youths who live with non-smokers. Teenagers who live in homes where smoking is allowed are nearly twice as likely to start smoking, even if adults are non-smokers themselves, than in homes where smoking is prohibited (87).