Do smoke-free workplaces affect smoking habits?
Yes, particularly among young people. Smoke-free workplaces can keep young people from becoming smokers. Every year, about 1,400 young people in North Dakota become daily smokers. A full ban could reduce that number. A Massachusetts study suggests that restaurant smoking bans may play a big role in persuading teens not to become smokers. Youths who lived in towns with strict bans were 40 percent less likely to become regular smokers than those in communities with no bans or weak laws.
