Non-smoking Regulation

Non-smoking Regulation in Mississippi

Mississippi

Tobacco smoke contains at least 69 chemicals that are known to cause cancer. Besides cancer, secondhand smoke has been linked to numerous ailments in both children and adults, including stroke, coronary heart disease, middle-ear disease, low birthweight and sudden infant death syndrome. 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 more than 41,000 deaths in adults and 900 deaths in infants 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 100% smoke-free indoor worksite policies. Smoke-free laws can save an estimated $183 million per year in reduced illnesses and deaths. The additional cost of lost productivity due to secondhand smoke was last estimated at $5.6 billion in 2006.

Disparities in non-smoking policy coverage may contribute to greater exposure to secondhand smoke. Populations of adult non-smokers with a higher prevalence of secondhand smoke exposure include:

• Adults ages 18-39 compared with those ages 40 and older.
• Non-Hispanic Black adults compared with non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic Asian and Hispanic adults. Evidence suggests that the American Indian/Alaska Native population is also exposed to high levels of secondhand smoke.
• Adults living below the federal poverty level compared with those with higher levels of income. 
• Adults with a high school education or less compared with those with some college education.

Strategies to strengthen and support non-smoking regulations include:

• Monitoring cigarette and tobacco companies for tactics that aim to undermine or inhibit smoking regulations. 
• Enforcing smoke-free policies in multi-unit housing. The American Lung Association has a step-by-step guide on how best to do this.
• Implementing smoke-free policies in the workplace and providing continuous education and resources on smoking cessation and prevention.

Healthy People 2030 has multiple tobacco-related objectives, including increasing the number of states that prohibit smoking in indoor worksites, restaurants and bars and increasing the proportion of smoke-free homes. 

Brody, Debra. “Secondhand Smoke Exposure Among Nonsmoking Adults: United States, 2015-2018.” NCHS Data Brief No. 396. 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 & 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.cdc.gov/tobacco/sgr/50th-anniversary/index.htm.