A smoke-free workplace and an increase could deter teenagers and young adults from picking up the habit, according to a recent study.
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 a third and that the number of new smokers plummeted over time, CNN news reported. 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 more than 4,000 teens between 12 and 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.
The findings are detailed in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.
