Key Studies

While the tobacco industry has claimed for years that smokefree ordinances have a negative impact on business, particularly hospitality-oriented businesses, that simply is not true.  Every independent study ever done to show the economic effect of smokefree ordinances has shown that there is NO NEGATIVE IMPACT to businesses.

Based on the favorable results of these economic impact studies, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention created an information booklet on the business benefits of going 100% smokefree called Save Lives, Save Money. Make Your Business Smokefree.

The studies included in this section represent some of the major independent studies done.  Both the 1994 and 1997 Glantz restaurant and bar studies laid the early foundation for showing that smokefree ordinances have no negative impact on businesses.  Taking it a step further, the Glantz bingo and tourism studies poke holes in tobacco industry myths that smokefree ordinances hurt bingo revenues and decrease tourism sales.  The 2004 market-value study shows that restaurants in smokefree cities increase their value over time, proving that smokefree ordinances can be good for business. 

Finally, the 2005 Scollo study is an analysis of all economic impact studies conducted on smokefree ordinances, showing that in fact, no legitimate study has ever shown a negative economic impact as the result of implementation of a smokefree ordinance.

Continue to check with ANR for the latest on economic impact, as more and more smokefree cities are verifying what has been known for years now- smokefree ordinances are not bad for business.