Effects of Smoke-Free Laws on Perceived Opportunities to Smoke

Smoke-free laws restrict smoking in public places, such as restaurants and bars. While smoke-free laws reduce secondhand smoke exposure and smoking rates, it is unclear whether smoke-free laws immediately increase perceived difficulty in finding a place to smoke. This study examined changes in perceived difficulty finding a place to smoke in restaurants and bars before and after Minnesota's statewide smoke-free law went into effect (10/1/07). Three rounds of data (two pre-intervention, one post-intervention) collected between 2006 and 2008 from an existing cohort of young adults were analyzed (n=1,446; aged 18 to 22). Participants indicated how difficult it was for an adult to find a place to smoke in restaurants and bars (1=“not at all hard”, 5=“very hard”). Responses were recoded in which “1” denotes “very hard” and “0” denotes all other responses. Results show an increase in the proportion of young people who feel it is “very hard” to find a place to smoke in restaurants and bars after implementation of the ban. Within six months prior to the statewide ban 26% of participants indicated that it was “very hard” to find a place to smoke in restaurants compared to 66% after the statewide ban. Similarly, 16% of participants indicated it was “very hard” to find a place to smoke in bars before the ban, compared to 57% after the statewide ban. Increased difficulty was observed for subgroups of youth (including nonsmokers and those previously living with a ban) and was significant after controlling for demographic characteristics and smoking status.