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Impact of a Smoking Ban on Restaurant and Bar
Revenues — El Paso, Texas, 2002
MMWR Highlights
February 27, 2004/ Vol.
53 / No. 7
Background
- The Office of the Surgeon General and the U.S. Task
Force on Community Preventive Services have concluded that the most
effective method for reducing secondhand smoke exposure is to
establish smoke-free environments.
- Smoke-free indoor air ordinances protect employees
and customers from secondhand smoke exposure, which is associated with
increased risks for heart disease and lung cancer in adults and
respiratory disease in children.
- As of January 2004, five states (California,
Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, and New York) and 72 municipalities in the
United States had passed laws that prohibit smoking in almost all
workplaces, restaurants, and bars.
El Paso Study
- On January 2, 2002, the city of El Paso, Texas,
implemented an ordinance banning smoking in all public places and
workplaces, including restaurants and bars.
- To assess whether the El Paso smoking ban affected
restaurant and bar revenues, sales tax and mixed-beverage tax data were
analyzed during the 12 years preceding and 1 year after the smoking ban
was implemented.
- Restaurant and bar revenues account for
approximately 10% of total retail revenues in El Paso, Texas, and this
percentage showed that no statistically significant changes in restaurant
and bar revenues occurred after the smoking ban was implemented on January
2, 2002.
- These findings are consistent with the study results in other municipalities that determined smoke-free indoor air
ordinances had no effect on restaurant revenues.
- Despite claims that these laws might reduce
alcoholic beverage revenues, mixed-beverage revenue analyses also indicate
that sales of alcoholic beverages were not affected by the El Paso smoking
ban.
Impact of a Smoking Ban on Restaurant and Bar
Revenues — El Paso, Texas, 2002
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