Banning Smoking Could Boost Business for Restaurants and Bars

Survey Finds More People Would Patronize Smoke-Free Establishments

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 2, 1997--A new survey shows bars and restaurants that snuff out smoking could find more patrons beating a path to their doors. Lois Biener, Ph.D., of the University of Massachusetts Center for Survey Research in Boston, and Michael Siegel, M.D., M.P.H., of the Boston University School of Public Health, interviewed 2,356 Massachusetts adults over a 10-month period in 1995. They wanted to find out whether people would change their dining habits if restaurants and bars became smoke-free. Biener presented the survey results at an AMA/American Public Health Association media briefing in New York on Tuesday.

About two-thirds of the people surveyed said ending smoking in restaurants and bars would have no impact on how frequently they patronize those establishments. But about three in 10 people would opt to dine out more often at smoke-free restaurants. And one in five people would patronize bars more often if they became smoke-free. The survey has uncovered a potential new market for bars among non-smokers. Thirty-two percent of the population said that they never go to bars, lounges, or places where alcohol is served. Ten percent of that group said they would start going if smoking were eliminated. In Massachusetts, this amounts to approximately 120,000 new customers for smoke-free bars and clubs.

The researchers write in an article from the December issue of the American Journal of Public Health: ``Of those predicting a change in their restaurant patronage, the proportion predicting increased use was almost four-times greater than the proportion predicting decreased use (31 percent vs. 7.9 percent). For bar patronage, the proportion predicting increased use was almost twice as large as the proportion predicting decreased use (20 percent vs. 10.8 percent).''

The survey results contradict the argument that restaurants and bars would lose business if communities enact ordinances requiring establishments to be smoke-free. The results support findings of a recent study by Stanton A. Glantz, Ph.D., and Lisa Smith in the October issue of the American Journal of Public Health that shows no adverse economic impact of smoking bans in bars in California and restaurants in Colorado and California. That argument assumes that if smoking is eliminated at bars and restaurants in one community, patrons would go to a neighboring community, or dine out less often.

Drs. Biener and Siegel wrote: ``Our analysis of a representative sample of Massachusetts adults suggest that smoke-free policies are likely to increase overall patronage of restaurants and bars. It also indicates that contrary to tobacco industry assertions, smokers are no more likely than nonsmokers to be frequent restaurant or bar users.''

Among other findings of the survey:

-- The vast majority of both smokers and nonsmokers believe environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) could cause cancer in nonsmokers and is harmful children's health.

Bars and restaurants have been shown to have high levels of employee exposure to ETS. This exposure has been linked to an increased risk of lung cancer among food service workers.

As of August 1996, 191 cities, towns and counties in the United States had enacted ordinances banning smoking in restaurants. Thirty of these ordinances also require bars to be smoke-free.

The researchers concluded: ``This study provides further evidence that workers can be protected from the hazards of ETS exposure without adverse consequences for bar and restaurant business.''

For more information, contact the AMA's Science News Department at 312/464-5374, or visit the company's Web site at http://www.ama-assn.org . NOTE TO EDITORS: This research was supported by the Health Protection Fund established upon passage of Massachusetts voter referendum Question 1 (Tobacco Excise Tax) in November 1992.

Contact:

American Medical Association's Science News Department
312/464-5374 or 5904 (on the day of the briefing)
Lois Biener, Ph.D. 617/287-7200
Michael Siegel, M.D., M.P.H., 617/638-5167