The challenge
Nonsmokers, including bar and restaurant workers, were widely exposed to secondhand smoke indoors.
The case
Under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York City’s Smoke-Free Air Act took effect in 2003, making virtually all workplaces smoke-free, including bars and restaurants. The health department paired the law with higher cigarette taxes, free nicotine patches and public education. Adult smoking fell 11% between 2002 and 2003, from 21.6% to 19.2%, about 140,000 fewer smokers, though the department’s researchers judged the tax rise the largest driver. Blood tests showed the share of nonsmoking adults exposed to secondhand smoke fell from 56.7% in 2004 to 37.1% in 2013–14, still above the national 24.4%.
Why it worked
Bundling the ban with taxes, cessation help and education cut both smoking and secondhand smoke exposure, though the separate effect of the ban is hard to isolate. Exposure in New York stayed higher than nationally, which the researchers linked partly to multi-unit housing and density that workplace rules don’t reach.
Sources
- Frieden, T. R., et al. (2005). Adult tobacco use levels after intensive tobacco control measures: New York City, 2002–2003. American Journal of Public Health.
- Perlman, S. E., et al. (2016). Exposure to secondhand smoke among nonsmokers in New York City in the context of recent tobacco control policies. Nicotine & Tobacco Research.
- Bloomberg Cities Idea Exchange. Noncommunicable diseases. Bloomberg Philanthropies.
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