Tobacco Facts.

Brownson recently reviewed much of the existing evidence on policies to reduce ETS exposure, and this chapter will update that evidence and add analyses conducted using data from the Current Population Surveys (CPS) and the California Tobacco Surveys (CTS).
Changes in workplace smoking rules are often highly visible and are sometimes among the most contested shifts in workplace norms. Employers commonly make substantial efforts to inform and involve their workers as part of the introduction of these changes, and cessation assistance is frequently made available to smoking workers at the time that the changes in workplace rules are implemented. When the smoking behaviors of workers are followed before and after the implementation of workplace restrictions, many, but not all, studies have demonstrated a fall in smoking prevalence and increased cessation rates. Many of the workplaces examined have been in health care settings, but similar observations are evident in other settings as well. These experiences would suggest that the implementation of smoking restrictions in the workplace can trigger smoking cessation attempts among the smokers who work there, particularly if cessation assistance is a prominent part of the implementation process.
A similar picture emerges for changes in the number of cigarettes smoked per day following the implementation of restrictions on smoking in the workplace. Modest declines in the number of cigarettes smoked per day are evident following implementation of workplace smoking restrictions in most of the locations where it has been examined.