Study: Smoking Bans Don’t Hurt Bar, Restaurant Business

Hospitality jobs are not affected by widespread indoor-smoking bans, according to a new report that says there is no economic justification for exempting bars and restaurants from smokefree-spaces laws.

AHN reported May 20 that the study by Elizabeth Klein of Ohio State University and colleagues compared employment data from eight Minnesota cities that had implemented a variety of indoor-smoking bans to two cities that had no bans. The three-year study concluded that even the most restrictive laws did not cause job losses.

“In the end we can say there isn’t a significant economic effect by type of clean indoor air policy, which should give us more support for maintaining the most beneficial public health policies,” said Klein. “The public-health benefit clearly comes from a comprehensive policy where all employees are protected from exposure to environmental tobacco smoke.”

The study will appear in the June 2009 issue of the journal Prevention Science.