Study: Smoking bans, heart attack reduction linked

Health advocates have received some ammunition in their arguments for more comprehensive anti-smoking legislation in the Shoals.

The nationally-renowned Institute of Medicine released a report, based on nearly a dozen studies from across the United States, Canada, Italy and Scotland, that says smoking bans decrease the risk of heart attacks.

According to the study done by the federally-commissioned panel of scientists, heart attacks decreased between 6 percent and 47 percent after smoking was prohibited in bars and restaurants, among other public places.

"The evidence is clear," said Dr. Thomas Frieden, head of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which commissioned the study. "Smoke-free laws don't hurt business ... but they prevent heart attacks in nonsmokers."

Florence just completed its first month under a smoking ordinance, which required owners to choose between designating their restaurant as entirely smoking or nonsmoking.

And while it's too early to determine its health imprint, business owners already have noticed where it impacts them the most - their wallets.

Initial observations seem to affirm Frieden's belief.

"Business has gotten a little better," said Snoop McCord, kitchen manager of Texas Roadhouse, which decided to go nonsmoking. "We've had more families coming here with their kids. They can come and sit at the bar now without worrying about smoke being blown on them."

On the flip side, downtown bar and restaurant On the Rocks decided to allow smoking, which the owner said hasn't hurt or enhanced business.

"It hasn't really changed anything for us," owner Randy Alred said. "For the most part, people who smoke have already altered what they do."

Though the smoking ordinance calls for the elimination of smoking sections, Alred said all smokers still go upstairs to light up, creating informal separate sections.

Despite the lack of a business impact, Alred wishes he never had to choose.

"I personally think it should have been a decision made by the City Council," he said. "It really hurts independent business owners because it looks like they are favoring one group over the other."

Most city restaurants, particularly chain establishments, went nonsmoking.

Eateries more reliant on their bar scene decided to keep smoking.

Danny Murphy, owner of Riverside Restaurant on Limestone Street, still hasn't seen the influx of smokers he was expecting.

"I thought it might pick up a bit," he said of his decision to maintain smoking. "But it's really just held its own. The majority of our customers were already smokers, and they're obviously still coming back."

Leaders from neighboring cities are using Florence as a litmus test to determine whether to pursue an ordinance of their own.

In Decatur, efforts to loosen the smoking ban in bars and restaurants fizzled last week.

The Institute of Medicine study has been dismissed by some critics because it was unable to account for the magnitude, frequency and duration of smoke exposure before a ban.

Evidence cited from previous studies included Helena, Mont., where there were 16 percent fewer heart attack hospitalizations in the six months after a smoking ban was enacted. And such hospitalizations dropped 41 percent in Pueblo, Colo., after a law banning smoking in the workplace.

According to the Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights, 17 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia ban smoking in bars, restaurants and places of employment, and 14 other states have laws that encompass part of that trio.

Unlike parks, schools, stores and other public places where the ordinance prohibits smoking, restaurant and lounge owners in Florence were given the choice. The law was modeled after Huntsville's ordinance.

Brian Hughes can be reached at 740-5720 or brian.hughes@TimesDaily.com.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.