Staples Ann H, Gallien Tara L, Martin Ryan, Lee Joseph, Cremeens-Matthews Jennifer
Division of Public Health, Tobacco Prevention & Control Branch, North Carolina, USA.
Walden University, Minnesota, USA.
Tob Prev Cessat. 2017 Aug 1;3:122. doi: 10.18332/tpc/75914. eCollection 2017.
Smoke-free policies are effective in eliminating health hazards that can lead to chronic diseases and premature death. How hospitality businesses experience clean indoor air policies may provide leverage in States that have not adopted such policies. This study assessed whether North Carolina restaurants and bars receive complaints and/or experience benefits five years after implementation of the State's smoke-free law.
A 2015 mail survey was used to assess problems, benefits, and voluntary policies (i.e., policies related to the use of electronic cigarettes indoors and outside smoke-free seating areas) among restaurant and bar owners/managers. The survey yielded 135 responses for a response rate of 20.3%.
The two most frequently selected benefits among respondents were customers breathing less tobacco smoke (65.2%) and fewer complaints about secondhand smoke (58.5%). The majority of restaurants (79.7%) and bars (71.4%) reported experiencing at least one benefit from the law. Restaurants were significantly more likely than bars to restrict the use of electronic cigarettes inside. No significant difference was found between restaurants and bars in smoke-free outdoor customer areas. Bars were more likely to report problems with the smoke-free law (e.g. lack of outdoor space for smoking, compliance issues).
This study reveals successes of North Carolina's smoke-free law. The majority of respondents reported experiencing at least one benefit of the law and some reported that they had implemented additional voluntary policies. Learning more about how hospitality businesses experience smoke-free laws can help other states and communities deal with similar policy changes in the future.
无烟政策在消除可能导致慢性病和过早死亡的健康危害方面是有效的。酒店企业如何看待清洁室内空气政策，可能会对尚未采用此类政策的州起到推动作用。本研究评估了北卡罗来纳州的餐厅和酒吧在该州无烟法律实施五年后是否收到投诉和/或体验到了益处。
2015年通过邮件调查评估餐厅和酒吧老板/经理所面临的问题、获得的益处以及自愿性政策（即与在室内和无烟就餐区外使用电子烟相关的政策）。该调查共收到135份回复，回复率为20.3%。
受访者中最常选择的两项益处是顾客吸入的烟草烟雾减少（65.2%）以及关于二手烟的投诉减少（58.5%）。大多数餐厅（79.7%）和酒吧（71.4%）报告称从该法律中至少获得了一项益处。餐厅比酒吧更有可能限制在店内使用电子烟。在无烟户外顾客区域方面，餐厅和酒吧之间未发现显著差异。酒吧更有可能报告无烟法律带来的问题（例如缺乏户外吸烟空间、合规问题）。
本研究揭示了北卡罗来纳州无烟法律的成功之处。大多数受访者报告称从该法律中至少获得了一项益处，一些受访者还表示他们实施了额外的自愿性政策。更多地了解酒店企业如何看待无烟法律，有助于其他州和社区在未来应对类似的政策变化。
