Overview
Today, we have more than 20 years of experience implementing smoke-free laws and compelling evidence that smoke-free laws are good for health and business.
This Web site is a clearinghouse of tools, tips and resources to help you effectively implement your smoke-free law. Here you’ll find:
- A step-by-step implementation timeline,
- Downloadable advertising, signage and other materials to promote your new law,
- Business outreach materials,
- Media and public outreach materials,
- Resources to help smokers quit, and
- Activities to evaluate your smoke-free law and demonstrate the law’s positive impact and public support.
Start with the Implementation Timeline
- In deciding how to use this timeline and the other materials on this website, you can contact one of the states, counties or cities that have gone before you and successfully implemented a smoke-free law. You can also get help from a national organization like Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights or the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
Our implementation timeline suggests a number of activities that together represent an ideal smoke-free education campaign. In the real world, smoke-free advocates and the public health community often have less time to prepare or may lack the resources to undertake all of these efforts.
That’s OK
The critical lesson is to catch up, and do WHATEVER YOU CAN, within the limits of time and budget, to educate the public, the media, and businesses before and during the new law’s implementation.
As long as you take advantage of the time you do have, experience suggests that you can successfully and smoothly implement your smoke-free law.
Education and Evaluation Are Critical
Educating the public, the media and business community about a new smoke-free law is essential to success.
In addition, the public health community should evaluate and publicize the impact of a new smoke-free law on public opinion, indoor air quality, compliance, employee health (i.e., respiratory infections), business, and smoking cessation.
Through effective evaluation, you can:
- Ensure that the new law is having its intended benefits;
- Support continued education on the law’s health and economic benefits through media advocacy; and
- Celebrate the law’s success at protecting and improving public health.
Effective education and evaluation activities support compliance, ensure continued support for the law and lay the groundwork for closing any remaining loopholes in the law later on. Our timeline includes suggestions for monitoring and publicizing the implementation of a new smoke-free law.
What to expect during implementation
