'Total tobacco ban can reduce consumption'

The most effective way to reduce tobacco consumption is by imposing a total ban on its use at home or, on a larger scale, in the whole city, say community medicine experts.

Banning tobacco use inside homes - or more broadly in the whole city - forces smokers to either cut down consumption or quit completely, report University of California (UC), San Diego School of Medicine researchers in the online issue of science journal Preventive Medicine.

"When there's a total smoking ban in the home, we found that smokers are more likely to reduce tobacco consumption and attempt to quit than when they're allowed to smoke in some parts of the house," said professor Wael K. Al-Delaimy, UC San Diego department of family and preventive medicine.

"The same held true when smokers report a total smoking ban in their city or town. Having both home and city bans on smoking appears to be even more effective."

"California was the first state in the world to ban smoking in public places in 1994 and we are still finding the positive impact of that ban by changing the social norm and having more homes and cities banning smoking," he said.

Al-Delaimy and colleagues surveyed 1,718 current smokers identified as a representative sample of the adult population in California.

They found that total home smoking bans were significantly associated with reduced consumption and successful quitting, but partial bans were not.