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North Carolina bars and restaurants go smoke-free

January 4, 2010—Restaurants and bars in North Carolina went smoke-free on Saturday January 2, 2010, making this state the first southeastern state to completely prohibit smoking in restaurants and bars, says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). However, the North Carolina law does not prohibit smoking in private workplaces, precluding CDC from including it on a list of states with 100 percent smoke-free laws that include all workplaces, restaurants and bars.

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According to CDC's State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation (STATE) System, the 22 states (including Washington, D.C.) with 100 percent smoke-free workplaces, restaurants and bars are: Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, D.C., Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, and Washington.

Later in 2010, laws that prohibit smoking in workplaces, restaurants and bars will take effect in Michigan (May 1, 2010) and Wisconsin (July 5, 2010).

According to CDC, secondhand smoke (.pdf file) causes 46,000 heart attacks and 3,400 lung cancer deaths each year and yet there are still over 126 million nonsmokers in the U.S. exposed to secondhand smoke. In 2006, the Surgeon General concluded that there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke and that eliminating smoking from all indoor areas is the only way to fully protect people from secondhand smoke exposure.

   
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