Smoke Free Benefits for Restaurants, Bars, Private Clubs and Bowling Alleys 

Benefits: Smoke-free restaurants can expect to save about $190 per 1000 sq. feet each year in lower cleaning and maintenance costs which can reduce expenses by 10%.▪ Restaurants in smoke-free cities have higher market value at resale (average 16%) than comparable restaurants located in cities with no formal smoke-free laws. ▪ Smoke-free policies reduce insurance rates and prevent fires. 

COSTS:Researchers found that studies showing negative impacts on the hospitality industry were usually based on predictions or estimates of changes.  Mainly funded by the tobacco industry, none were published in peer-reviewed journals.

• Smoking in the workplaces increased business owners’ costs by $1300.00 per year per smoker.
• Construction and maintenance costs are 7% higher in buildings that allow smoking.

• Employees who work in smoke-filled businesses suffer a 20-30% higher risk of heart attack.
• People routinely exposed to a lot of secondhand smoke, such as restaurant and bar workers, can see their risk of lung increase 20-30%.
• Levels of secondhand smoke in restaurants and bars were found to be 2 to 5 times higher than in residences with smokers and 2 to 6 times higher than in office workplaces.
• Workers in the “5 B’s” (bars, bowling alleys, billiard halls, betting establishments, and bingo parlors) are exposed to secondhand smoke at a risk level 47 times higher than the federal government’s defined level for a carcinogen.
• Smoke-filled rooms can have up to six times the air pollution as a busy highway.
• More people die from secondhand smoke than all other regulated occupational substances combined.