(This resource corresponds to Module 2.)

Communities can pass local ordinances that prohibit citizens from drinking and smoking in public places. By viewing public areas as part of the greater community (and therefore different from private space) and seeking to determine the kind of behavior that can and cannot take place in these areas, local government can influence drinking and smoking behavior. Here are some examples:

• Prohibit or restrict alcohol possession and consumption in public places. Policies can be created to govern the availability and consumption of alcohol at public events, such as concerts, street fairs, and sporting events. These can be one-time restrictions implemented by event organizers, or part of local ordinances. (States do have the power to regulate alcohol consumption in public, but they generally leave it up to local jurisdictions to set their own regulations.)¹ Examples of such policies include totally banning alcohol at an event, restricting drinking in areas where youth are not allowed, limiting cup size to 12 ounces, and banning alcohol consumption in parking lots.²
  
  
• Prohibit cigarette smoking in public places and private workplaces. Many communities are enacting local ordinances that prohibit smoking in public places, such as restaurants and workplaces. Such laws make it less convenient for people to smoke, and they also protect other people from exposure to secondhand smoke, which research shows causes heart disease, lung cancer, and other cancers in people who have never smoked.³

  In 1998, Boston, Massachusetts, enacted a ban on smoking in all of the city’s 1,400 restaurants, requiring restaurants that did not include bars to become 100 percent smoke-free. Similar policies are being advanced in many workplace settings.⁴ As of 1996, such large corporations as Continental Airlines, Dunkin’ Donuts, IBM, Prudential, and Taco Bell have all implemented smoke-free workplaces.⁵

• Prohibit cigarette smoking within school areas. Many communities across the country are passing local ordinances to create smoke-free school zones. In Barrington, Rhode Island, for example, the use of tobacco products is prohibited in all school buildings, playgrounds, the school administration building, indoor athletic facilities, school gymnasiums, locker rooms, school buses, and other school vehicles. Tobacco use is also prohibited within 25 feet of any school building. This law applies to all school staff, students, and visitors, and a set of penalties has been developed for each violation.⁶

References

1. Prevention Enhancement Protocols System (1999). Preventing problems related to alcohol availability: Environmental approaches. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.
   
   
2. The Alcohol Epidemiology Program of the School of Public Health, University of Minnesota in Minneapolis (1997). Policies to reduce youth access. Minneapolis, Minn.: University of Minnesota.
   
   
3. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1993). Respiratory health effects of passive smoking: Lung cancer and other disorders. The report of the Environmental Protection Agency. Washington, DC: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development.
   
   
4. Boston Public Health Commission (1998). Restaurant smoking restrictions. Available online at www.bphc.org/board/regs_smoking.asp.
   
   
5. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Office on Smoking and Health (1996). Making your workplace smoke-free: A decision-maker’s guide. Available online at www.cdc.gov/tobacco/research_data/environmental/etsguide.htm.
   
   
6. Rhode Island Department of Health. Available online at www.rilin.state.ri.us/statutes/TITLE23/23-20.9/INDEX.HTM.