An Observational Study of the Secondary Effects of a Local Smoke-Free Ordinance

Details

• Journal Article:
  Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD)
• Personal Author:
  Williamson, Amy A. ; Fox, Brion J. ; Creswell, Paul D. ; Kuang, Xiaodong ; Remington, Patrick L. ; Ceglarek, Sudakshina L. ; Brower, Aaron M.
• Description:
  Introduction ; The secondary, sometimes unintended effects of smoke-free ordinances have not been thoroughly evaluated. In this observational study, we evaluated the association of a local ordinance implemented in Madison, Wisconsin, with changes in public disturbances; smoking, drinking, and bar-going behaviors in the general population; and smoking and drinking behaviors among university students. ; Methods ; We obtained data from 4 sources: police records, key informant interviews, a community survey, and an undergraduate survey. Except for interviews, which we conducted postenactment only, we compared measures before and after the ordinance was put into effect. ; Results ; We found no evidence of association of the ordinance with public disturbances. We found that the ordinance was not associated with changes in smoking rates, drinking rates, or bar-going in the general population, although bar-going decreased among the 16% of the general adult population who smokes (from 84% in 2005 to 70% in 2007, P < .001). Student smoking rates also decreased (from 23% in 2005 to 16% in 2007, P < .001), but student binge drinking did not change. ; Conclusion ; The study adds unique information to the evidence base on the effect of smoke-free policies, finding little evidence of their secondary, unintended effects. With the addition of these results to existing evidence, we conclude that the potential health benefits of smoke-free ordinances outweigh the potential harms from unintended effects.
• Subjects:
  • Original Research
  • Adult
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Incidence
  • Male
  • Policy Making
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Smoking
  • Tobacco Smoke Pollution
  More +
• Source:
  Prev Chronic Dis. 2011; 8(4).
• ISSN:
  1545-1151
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Volume:
  8
• Issue:
  4
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/20598/cdc_20598_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 543.29 KB]
• Collection(s):
  Preventing Chronic Disease
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:d154adeea9724743cf7afe0d6ceb256698feea383d4b8d360a4cbedf5c234a5572e626d332cae6eb6feeaf1369e9657102168343f90455e184fd280be791f8f6