INDIANAPOLIS — Smoke-free restaurants and bar laws are good for health, and a new study published in the scientific journal Preventing Chronic Disease finds that a statewide smoke-free law would not be expected to harm the restaurant and bar industry. This conclusion is based on an aggregate analysis of all the available data from local jurisdictions in the nine studied states, which included Indiana.
The study, made possible by a partnership grant to the CDC Foundation from Pfizer Inc, analyzed the potential impact of a statewide smoke-free law on employment and taxable sales revenues in nine states—Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and West Virginia. For North Carolina, the study examined the impact of a 2010 statewide smoke-free restaurant and bar law. The other eight states each have a number of communities with local smoke-free restaurant and/or bar ordinances, but no statewide smoke-free law. Data analyzed were from 2000 to 2010.
“Our research found that smoke-free laws do not have a negative economic impact on aggregate restaurant or bar employment or revenues,” said Brett Loomis, a research economist at RTI International and lead author of the study. “Our findings suggest that a statewide smoke-free law in the states examined would not be expected to have an adverse economic impact on restaurants and bars in those states.”
The smoke-free videos may be viewed at www.facebook.com/smokefreestjoe. More information about secondhand smoke is available at www.breatheindiana.com.
