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Connecticut Value:
Percentage of population covered by 100% smoke-free laws for restaurants, bars and non-hospitality workplaces
Connecticut Rank:
Appears In:
Percentage of population covered by 100% smoke-free laws for restaurants, bars and non-hospitality workplaces
US Value: 62.7%
Top State(s): Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin: 100.0%
Bottom State(s): Florida, New Hampshire, Nevada, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia: 0.0%
Definition: Percentage of population covered by 100% smoke-free laws for restaurants, bars and non-hospitality workplaces
Data Source and Years(s): American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation, 2024
Suggested Citation: America's Health Rankings analysis of American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation, United Health Foundation, AmericasHealthRankings.org, accessed 2024.
Tobacco smoke contains at least 69 chemicals that are known to cause cancer. Besides cancer, secondhand smoke has been linked to numerous other ailments in both children and adults, including sudden infant death syndrome, middle-ear disease, low birth weight, stroke and coronary heart disease. Non-smoking regulations and smoke-free policies aim to protect people from exposure to secondhand smoke. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cites several studies that show that smoke-free policies improve health outcomes among workers and the general population. Exposure to secondhand smoke is estimated to cause nearly 900 infant deaths and 41,000 adult deaths in the United States every year.
In 2000, there were no states with comprehensive smoke-free laws. Today, 35 states and the District of Columbia have policies in place prohibiting smoking inside bars, restaurants and workplaces. Expanding smoke-free laws to protect more vulnerable and high-risk populations would not only improve the health of many Americans but also reduce societal costs. In 2011, nearly 38,000 non-smoker public housing residents, including children, became sick or died due to secondhand smoke exposure in their homes. The economic burden to the U.S. was estimated at $183 million. The additional cost of all lost productivity due to secondhand smoke in the United States was last estimated at $5.6 billion in 2006.
Smoking regulations vary across the country, and differences in smoke-free policy coverage may contribute to disparities in secondhand smoke exposure. Populations of adult non-smokers with a higher prevalence of secondhand smoke exposure include:
Strategies to strengthen and support non-smoking regulations include:
Healthy People 2030 has multiple tobacco-related objectives, including:
Brody, Debra. “Secondhand Smoke Exposure Among Nonsmoking Adults: United States, 2015-2018.” NCHS Data Brief No. 396. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics, February 4, 2021. https://doi.org/10.15620/cdc:101197.
Hyland, Andrew, Joaquin Barnoya, and Juan E. Corral. “Smoke-Free Air Policies: Past, Present and Future.” Tobacco Control 21, no. 2 (March 2012): 154–61. https://doi.org/10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2011-050389.
Mason, Jacquelyn, William Wheeler, and Mary Jean Brown. “The Economic Burden of Exposure to Secondhand Smoke for Child and Adult Never Smokers Residing in U.S. Public Housing.” Public Health Reports 130, no. 3 (May 2015): 230–44. https://doi.org/10.1177/003335491513000310.
Max, Wendy, Hai-Yen Sung, and Yanling Shi. “Deaths From Secondhand Smoke Exposure in the United States: Economic Implications.” American Journal of Public Health 102, no. 11 (November 2012): 2173–80. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2012.300805.
Tynan, Michael A., Carissa Baker Holmes, Gabbi Promoff, Cynthia Hallett, Maggie Hopkins, and Bronson Frick. “State and Local Comprehensive Smoke-Free Laws for Worksites, Restaurants, and Bars — United States, 2015.” MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 65, no. 24 (June 24, 2016): 623–26. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6524a4.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: The Biology and Behavioral Basis for Smoking-Attributable Disease: A Report of the Surgeon General.” Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2010. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21452462/.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General.” Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2014. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK179276/.
America’s Health Rankings builds on the work of the United Health Foundation to draw attention to public health and better understand the health of various populations. Our platform provides relevant information that policymakers, public health officials, advocates and leaders can use to effect change in their communities.
We have developed detailed analyses on the health of key populations in the country, including women and children, seniors and those who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces, in addition to a deep dive into health disparities across the country.