BA Province Curbs Public Smoking

Six months after passing a law to limit public smoking, the Province of Buenos Aires has finally begun enforcing the law.

As of last week smoking is no longer allowed (indoors) in public places smaller than 150 square meters (1,615 square feet). Exceptions will be made for places that completely block of a separate area for smokers.

Meanwhile, carcinogenic clouds will still hover freely in dance clubs, casinos and bingos bigger than 400 square meters.

Contrary to what critics claim about anti-tobacco laws, banning smoking in public places has not had a negative impact on business in Argentina or elsewhere, according to number of studies. A study by Torcuarto Di Tella University had this to say about such laws in Argentina:

“Using a quasi-experimental design and a difference-in-difference estimation procedure we find that the smoke-free laws did not affect negatively the sales of bars and restaurants in the city of Buenos Aires and in the provinces of Córdoba, Santa Fe and Tucumán. Moreover, in the case of Buenos Aires the smoke-free legislation induced an increase in the sales of bars and restaurants of around seven percent.”

The only country in South America to have banned smoking nationwide is Uruguay. The first country in the world to do is was Bhutan.

Popularity: 1% [?]