Has the introduction of smoke-free legislation been successful in other countries?
Across the world, as the evidence of the risks associated with secondhand smoke exposure has accumulated, action has been taken to reduce people’s exposure to secondhand smoke.
Ireland (2004), Norway (2004), Scotland (2005), New Zealand (2004), various Canadian territories and Singapore are examples of countries which have introduced comprehensive smoke-free legislation.
In America, California has had a state-wide smoke-free public places since 1998 and New York City passed smoke-free legislation in 2003. In total, over nine US states have smoke-free legislation that required completely smoke-free restaurants and bars.
This legislation has proved to be effective in protecting people from the health risks of secondhand smoke. The Journal of the American Medical Association documented a significant improvement in respiratory health among bartenders after the passage of the Californian smoke-free workplace legislation.
According to the British Medical Journal, the US state of Montana saw a 40 per cent drop in hospital admissions for heart attacks during a 6 month period of smoke-free workplaces.
The smoke-free provisions of this Bill are consistent with what many other Governments are doing to protect people from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke. Smoke-free legislation is proving to be not only very effective in protecting health, but is also very popular.
