MENUCOMMITTEESCALENDARTFA NEWSReport: Nationwide smoking ban would reduce heart attacks
USA Today - Writer: Steven Reinberg - Date Printed: 2010-05-21
If all states banned smoking in restaurants, offices and other public spaces nationwide, the number of Americans suffering from heart attacks would drop by more than 18,000 within the first year, researchers report.
"Comprehensive smoking bans have been implemented in some states, but not in every state," noted lead researcher Dr. Mouaz Al-Mallah, co-director of Cardiac Imaging Research at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.
Currently, 39 states have some type of public smoking bans, with 26 banning smoking in any enclosed public space, while 11 states have no bans at all.
Based on the finding, Al-Mallah said that he would "encourage all states to institute a ban on smoking in public place to protect people from secondhand smoke. Authorities should do everything possible to "Adopting a national comprehensive smoking ban would prevent cardiovascular events, reduce death and disability due to cardiovascular disease, and greatly improve the cardiovascular health of this nation," Fonarow said.
Another expert agreed, and said that bans' benefits extend to nonsmokers as well by reducing secondhand smoke.
"This is another important piece of evidence that smoke-free laws protect health," said Matthew L. Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids said. "It shows why it is critical that every state pass a comprehensive smoke-free law that protects all workers and applies to all workplaces and public places."
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