Smoking Ban Reduces Heart Attacks in Community

The findings of a new study showed that a community that banned indoor smoking had a marked reduction of heart attacks. An article on November 10, 2009 on the news website NEMS360.com from the paper, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal discussed the results of a three year study after the town of Starkville MS instituted a ban on indoor smoking.

The study, conducted at Mississippi State University (MSU), showed a 27 percent decrease in heart attacks among people living in the town of Starkville, since that city passed a no-smoking ordinance in 2006. The study, conducted by Robert McMillen and Dr. Robert Collins, of MSU, focused on the residents of Starkville in the three-year span after the ban became law, and compared that to the three years prior to the city ordinance.

Robert McMillen, co-researcher and assistant professor in the psychology department and researcher at MSU's nationally recognized Social Science Research Center said, "The emerging scientific consensus clearly demonstrates that communities like Starkville can reduce heart attacks simply by prohibiting smoking in indoor public places. Smoke-free laws are popular with the public and are free to implement."

Dr. Robert Collins, director of MSU Health Services and co-researcher noted that many other factors can have an effect on the rate of heart attack over the long run. However, he notes that, "Only cessation of smoking and smoke exposure has an immediate effect on heart attacks." Dr. Collins has been a supporter on a public ban of smoking, "I plead with the Mississippi Legislature to ban smoking in public places. Our data reflects the findings of every other community that has looked at what happened when smoking is banned in public venues."

Roy Hart, director of the Office of Tobacco Control at the Mississippi State Department of Health, also supports additional smoking bans. He stated, "Smoking restrictions save lives, reduce health care costs and youth smoking initiation, and encourage smokers to quit."