Lifestyle and Leisure
American laws on smoking
As England's pubs, bars and restaurants go smoke-free, Jo-ann Hodgson looks at the laws in place to help stub out smoking across the pond
Over 50 per cent of Americans are now covered by smoke-free regulation of some sort and that number, as it is across the world, is steadily increasing.
Up until 1975 smoking bans in America were limited to individual cities and counties but, in this year, Minnesota enacted the Minnesota Clean Indoor Air Act, making it the first state to ban smoking in most public spaces.
In the early days of public smoking bans, restaurants were required to have separate areas for non-smokers but bars were exempt from the ban. However, in 1998, California – now synonymous with smoke-free legislation – enacted a complete smoking ban which not only covers bars but has subsequently gone a whole lot further. The western state now has some of the toughest and most extensive anti-smoking legislation in the world. Smoking is banned in Californian restaurants, bars, enclosed workplaces and on beaches and a ban also exists inside or within six metres of any public building.
Smoking has also been banned in New York bars, clubs and restaurants since 2003. The ban caused controversy when first initiated, with bar and club owners complaining that it had a detrimental effect on their businesses – forcing people to drink at home more frequently, where they could enjoy a cigarette at their leisure.
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