Regulations banning smoking in restaurants were designed to protect the health of nonsmokers. But the laws appear to have an unintended bonus: They deter kids from becoming smokers. A study published recently in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine found that teens in towns with complete smoking bans were 40 percent less likely to become established smokers compared with their peers in areas with weak restrictions. The study followed 3,834 Massachusetts youths, ages 12 to 17, for up to four years. In towns where smoking wasn’t restricted or was only partially restricted, 9.6 percent and 9.8 percent of the youths, respectively, became established smokers over the study period. But in towns where smoking was banned in restaurants, 7.9 percent became smokers.
Los Angeles Times
