Syracuse (WSYR-TV) -- It seems there’s hardly anywhere you can go nowadays that doesn’t have some sort of ban on smoking in public. But does it all really do the public any good?
A study in the journal “Circulation” says yes. Second-hand smoke causes cardiovascular and respiratory disease. Researchers found that anti-smoking laws brought about a 15 percent decrease in hospitalization from heart attacks and a 24 percent decrease in hospitalizations from asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder.
Researchers also found that the benefits were the greatest when the laws included workplaces, restaurants and bars.
Loopholes in the laws, such as exemptions for casinos, mean more people end up in emergency rooms. So laws cutting down on lighting up, also cut down on smoking-related illness.
