The United States has made great strides in the past decade in terms of increasing the number of states with comprehensive anti-smoking laws that prohibit smoking in all indoor areas of workplaces, restaurants and bars. In 1990, San Luis Obispo, California, passed the first law in the United States to ban smoking in bars. During the 1990s, smoke-free bar association laws were largely limited to communities in California and Massachusetts. In addition, while most of these laws were enacted through the state legislative process, Arizona, Ohio, South Dakota, and Washington enacted their laws through election initiatives.
The smoke free law in Ellisville Mississippi went into effect on July 1st, 2020. This law prohibits smoking in all enclosed public places and places of employment. The owner, manager, operator or employee of an area regulated by this law will order the person who smokes in violation of this law to turn off the product being smoked. The law also requires that smoking be prohibited within less than twenty (20) feet away from entrances, operable windows and ventilation systems in enclosed areas where smoking is prohibited.
The Surgeon General has concluded that the only way to completely protect non-smokers from exposure to second-hand smoke (SHS) is to ban smoking in all indoor areas. Studies that measure cotinine (metabolized nicotine) and NNAL (metabolized nitrosamine NNK, a specific carcinogen in tobacco related to lung cancer) in hospitality workers show dramatic decreases in the levels of these biomarkers after the entry into force of an anti-smoking law. Exposure to SHS causes lung cancer and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases in adults and children who don't smoke, resulting in approximately 46,000 deaths from heart disease and 3,400 deaths from lung cancer among the U. S.
Even occasional exposure to second-hand smoke is harmful according to the Surgeon General's report, How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease. Low levels of exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke cause a rapid and abrupt increase in dysfunction and inflammation of the lining of blood vessels, which are implicated in heart attacks and strokes. Regional disparities in policy adoption persist, and no state in the South has adopted an anti-smoking law banning smoking in all three places. It should be noted that only three southern states (Florida, Louisiana and North Carolina) have laws prohibiting smoking in two of the three places examined in this report, and no state in the South has a comprehensive state anti-smoking law in place.
Even among the 26 states that have comprehensive anti-smoking laws in place, protections could be extended to places that are normally exempt from state laws. The State System only collects information on certain types of state smoking restrictions, primarily statutory laws and executive orders, and does not include information on state administrative laws, regulations or implementation guidelines. In conclusion, Ellisville Mississippi's smoke free law took effect on July 1st 2020. This law prohibits smoking in all enclosed public places and places of employment within less than twenty (20) feet away from entrances, operable windows and ventilation systems.
This law is part of a larger effort by many states across the US to reduce exposure to second-hand smoke which can cause serious health issues such as lung cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
