Displacement

Fears that banning smoking in public places can lead to more smoking in the home, appear to be true.

Research into the effects of anti-tobacco policies introduced across the United States published by University College London in December 2005 found that total bans on smoking in public increase childrens’ exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) in the home.

According to the study, ‘a total [smoking] ban increases [cotinine] exposure by 6ng/ml in young children (4-8 years old) … In the older categories of children studied (8-12 and 13-20 years old) a total ban also increased cotinine levels but by half the amount 3.2 ng/ml, which would be expected as they are more independent and would spend less time with their parents.’

The study also suggested that smoking regulations have a distributional effect, increasing the exposure and putting at risk the health of the poorer section of the population, while benefiting individuals in higher socio-economic positions.