Effects of new smoking regulations in Italy.
BACKGROUND
From 10 January 2005 the Italian government banned smoking in all indoor public places. We conducted a population-based survey to provide information on attitudes towards smoking regulation and to disentangle the impact of the smoking ban on tobacco consumption.


METHODS
We considered data from a survey on smoking, based on 3114 subjects aged 15 or over, representative of the general adult Italian population in terms of age, sex, geographic area and socioeconomic status.


RESULTS
Once smoke-free policies were introduced, support for them in the public opinion tended to increase. In Italy, smoke-free policies accounted for around 8% decrease in cigarette consumption in the short run. Moreover, tobacco bans were almost universally accepted, and the smoke-free legislation did not seem to unfavourably affect the business of restaurants or cafes.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of our study on the first extensive smoking ban in a large country show the advantages of smoke-free legislations, which may have major public health implications.
Gallus
S
S
Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Milan, Italy. gallus@marionegri.it
Zuccaro
P
P
Colombo
P
P
Apolone
G
G
Pacifici
R
R
Garattini
S
S
La Vecchia
C
C
D005260:Female; D033161:Government Regulation; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006291:Health Policy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D011639:Public Opinion; D012147:Restaurants / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D017132:Workplace / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence