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• Smoke-free policies are wide-ranging and extremely effective 

Smoke-free policies are reducing heart disease related to smoke exposure, the prevalence of smoking in adults and the exposure of both adults and children to second-hand smoke. Further, such policies do not decrease the business activity of the restaurant and bar industry. A reduction in the lung cancer burden is plausible but relevant evidence will only become available in the future. The findings appear in the latest of a series of Special Reports from the International Agency for Cancer Research (IARC), published exclusively Online and in the July edition of The Lancet Oncology. The issue is dedicated to lung cancer and will be presented at the International Lung Cancer Conference, Liverpool, UK, from 9-12 July. . . .

The group found sufficient evidence for the following: that implementation of smoke-free policies substantially decreases second-hand smoke exposure; that smoke-free workplaces decrease cigarette consumption in continuing smokers; that smoke-free policies do not decrease the business activity of the restaurant and bar industry; that introduction of smoke-free policies decreases respiratory symptoms in workers; that voluntary smoke-free home policies decrease children's second hand smoke-exposure; and that smoke-free home policies decrease adult smoking.

Strong evidence was found that smoke-free workplaces decrease the prevalence of adult smoking; that smoke-free policies decrease tobacco use in youths; that the introduction of smoke-free legislation decreases heart disease morbidity; and that smoke-free home policies decrease smoking in youths. But, because the lead time for lung cancer to be diagnosed after exposure to a carcinogen such as cigarette smoke can be 20 or more years, the group concluded that "data are not yet available regarding the expected decline in lung cancer after implementation of smoke-free policies."

On the basis of the evidence reviewed, the Working Group recommend that governments enact and implement smoke-free policies that conform to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

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