New research suggests that banning smoking in the workplace and increasing taxes on cigarettes could deter teenagers and young adults from picking up the habit, Reuters reported.

Researchers from the University of California-San Francisco and University of California-Merced found that a 100 percent smoke-free environment reduced the odds of taking up smoking by one third and that the number of new smokers plummeted over time. These effects impacted nonsmokers by protecting them from the toxins of secondhand smoke.

"Because smoking initiation typically occurs before youth enter the workplace, smoke-free workplace laws likely affect smoking initiation by showing kids that adult smoking norms reject smoking," Anna Song, first author of the study, said in a statement. "The effects of smoke-free laws are similar or larger than other determinants of smoking, including age, sex, race/ethnicity and poverty level."

For the study, researchers collected and analyzed data on the smoking habits of nearly 4,000 12 to 18 year olds living throughout the country in 1997. They were tracked for 11 years as they transitioned to young adults, The Central Valley Business Times reported.

"There was an effect of both smoking restrictions and cigarette taxes, and independent and additive effects," Stanton A. Glantz, senior author of the study, told Reuters.

Researchers found that adolescents and young adults living in areas with 100 percent smoke-free bar laws were 20 percent less likely to be smokers, and that current smokers smoked 15 percent fewer days per month than those not living under these laws.

"Smoke-free workplace laws have the most powerful effect on smoking initiation, equivalent to the deterrent impact of a $1.57 tax increase," Glantz said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, federal tax had jumped from 24c per pack in 1995, two years before the study period, to $1.01 per pack in 2009, two years after the study period. The average state taxes for 1995 and 2009 had increased from 32.7c to $1.20 per pack.

The authors found that these tax hikes had an impact beyond the effects of smoke-free workplace laws, with each 10c tax increase followed by a 3 percent drop in the odds of starting to smoke.

"Our results suggest that the $2 tax increase being discussed in the California legislature would cut youth smoking initiation nearly in half," said Glantz.

The findings are detailed in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.