Study Finds Non-Smokers Benefit when Smoking Bans Are Enacted

A new study by Indiana University researchers shows that hospital admissions for heart attacks dropped by 59 percent for non smokers after a countywide smoking ban was implemented. This is the first study to look at the effects that public smoking bans have on the occurence of heart attacks in non-smokers. Previous studies did not distinguish between smokers and non-smokers or only looked at non-smokers with no risks for heart disease. Dong-Chul Seo, lead author of the study, stated, "Heart attack admissions for smokers saw no similar decline during the study, so the benefits of the ban appear to come more from the reduced exposure to second-hand smoke among non-smokers than from reduced consumption of tobacco among smokers."

The study, published in Journal of Drug Education, compared hospital admissions for acute myocardial infarction (heart attack) in Monroe County and Delaware County (both in Indiana). Monroe County had a smoking ban in place for public places such as restaurants, retail spaces, and workplaces. Delaware County did not have a smoking ban. The study compared the two counties 22 months before and after the initial smoking ban was adopted in Monroe County. During this time period, there was a 70 percent drop in the number of hospital admissions for heart attacks in Monroe County versus the 11 percent drop in Delaware County. That gives a 59 percent net decrease in non-smoking patient admission for heart attacks after the smoking ban was enacted in Monroe County.

Cynthia Hallett, Executive Director of Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights (ANR), stated that the findings of the Indiana University researchers are consistent with eight other studies looking at the links between smoke-free laws and heart disease. She added, "The bottom line is smoke-free laws save lives." Previous studies have found that a smoke-free ban produced a drop in heart attacks that ranged from 14 to 47 percent. A recent study by the University of Nottingham found that low-level exposure to secondhand smoke affects a person's susceptibility to cardiovascular disease.