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April 26, 2011

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Smoking bans spread in US

BY 2020, every US state may have bans on smoking in restaurants, bars and the workplace, federal health officials predicted last week. Their assessment was based on the current pace of adopting anti-smoking laws.

The number of states with comprehensive indoor smoking bans went from zero in 2000 to 25 in 2010.

"It is by no means a foregone conclusion that we'll get there by 2020," says Dr Tim McAfee, director of the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health.

But the success of the smoking ban movement has been astounding, and seems to be accelerating, he says. "I'm relatively bullish that we'll at least get close to that number."

Nearly half of US residents are covered by comprehensive state or local indoor smoking bans, the CDC estimated, in a new report.

Tobacco smoke is an established cause of lung cancer, heart disease and other maladies. But the science on the impact of smoking bans is younger. Because it takes years or even decades for cancers to develop, there's little information on the impact of bans on cancer rates. But studies have already charted declines in adult heart attack rates and in childhood asthma attacks after smoking bans were adopted in some communities.





 

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