Clean indoor-air laws and youth access restrictions

Abstract

Abstract The development of public policy on tobacco is incomplete without the consideration of clean indoor air and youth access policies. Clean indoor-air laws protect non-smokers from the dangers of environmental tobacco smoke and implicitly transfer property rights to ambient air from smokers to non-smokers, but also have economic costs for individuals and businesses. Numerous studies conclude that comprehensive clean indoor-air policies lead to significant reductions in smoking prevalence and average cigarette consumption among continuing smokers. Youth access laws limit the supply of tobacco products to adolescents, who are deemed too young to fully comprehend the risks of consuming tobacco products. The existing empirical evidence on the impact of limits on youth smoking is mixed. For both clean-air laws and youth access restrictions, economic theory justifies government intervention in an inefficient tobacco market. The laws work best when drafted comprehensively without pre-emptive provisions. Clean indoor-air policies can, in some instances, be self-enforcing, while youth access policies depend crucially on aggressive enforcement to ensure compliance. Overall, the global coverage of clean indoor air and youth access policies is minimal. While high-income countries as a group have histories of clean indoor air and, to a lesser extent, youth access laws, low-income and middle-income countries are in the nascent stages of developing such policies.