Exposure to Secondhand Smoke

Wyoming adults generally recognize the overall risk of breathing secondhand smoke: 97% think breathing secondhand smoke is very (62%) or somewhat (35%) harmful to one’s health (WYSAC, 2018a). Smokefree indoor air policies and laws have demonstrated effectiveness in reducing youth initiation, reducing exposure to secondhand smoke, and increasing cessation of tobacco use (Guide to Community Preventive Services, 2015).

Smokefree Indoor Air Laws

The District of Columbia and 27 states (55% of states and DC) have comprehensive smokefree indoor air laws that cover private workplaces, restaurants, and bars. Overall, 75% of states (and DC) have some sort of smokefree indoor air law; 74% of those laws are comprehensive. When including territories such as Guam and Puerto Rico (all of which have some sort of smokefree indoor air law), 88% of the states and territories have enacted some sort of smokefree indoor air law; 71% of them are comprehensive (CDC, 2019). Based on broad success in implementing smokefree indoor air laws, a developing public health concern is whether such laws address secondhand aerosol from vaping (e.g., Marynak et al., 2014).

Wyoming, unlike all of the bordering states, does not have a statewide smokefree indoor air law (Figure 9). Five of the six bordering states have a comprehensive smokefree indoor air law. Idaho’s law covers restaurants (CDC, 2019).

In the absence of a statewide smokefree indoor air law, 10 Wyoming municipalities have enacted local smokefree indoor air laws (Figure 10). Laramie enacted Wyoming’s first smokefree indoor air law in 2005. (That law was expanded to include vaping in 2014). Since then, nine other municipalities have enacted smokefree indoor air laws. However, the law in Lyman includes a clause that allows business owners to opt out by prominently displaying signs “on or near every public entrance” identifying the business as a “smoking place” (Lyman Municipal Code 4-4-5, 2011). Without complete data about the decisions of individual business owners in Lyman, WYSAC does not include Lyman residents in calculations of Wyoming residents protected by a smokefree indoor air law. In total, the remaining nine laws cover 35% of the state’s population (based on estimates from U.S. Census Bureau, 2019). Currently, six towns in Wyoming have comprehensive smokefree indoor air laws that include indoor workplaces, indoor areas of restaurants, and indoor areas of bars. These comprehensive laws cover 29% of Wyoming residents. The enactment of these laws between 2005 and 2015 demonstrates progress in public health policy, though this progress appears to have stalled.

In 2017, most Wyoming adults reported they would support individual laws making indoor workplaces, indoor areas of restaurants, or indoor areas of casinos and clubs smokefree. Half of Wyoming adults would support a law making bars smokefree (Figure 11; WYSAC, 2018a).

Other Clean Air Policies

Voluntary smokefree policies in restaurants, bars, and other businesses also provide some protection from secondhand smoke (Guide to Community Preventive Services, 2015). In 2016, about half (55%) of Wyoming dining businesses (including bars) had a written policy protecting customers from secondhand smoke, indicating a challenge for public health efforts in Wyoming. Written policies prohibiting smoking and vaping for all indoor areas (clean air policies) were most common among fast food restaurants, possibly reflecting corporate policies set by national chains. Full service restaurants were more likely to have clean air policies than full service restaurants with attached bars. Bars, taverns, and saloons (as a single category) were the least likely business type to have clean air policies (Table 2; WYSAC, 2017a).

In 2016, the prevalence of clean air policies differed across lodging business type. Indoor clean air policies were most common in multi-use businesses (e.g., a business that is both a motel and campground). Motels were the least likely to have clean air policies (WYSAC, 2017a; Table 3).

Most Wyoming adults who work primarily indoors are covered by policies prohibiting smoking in the indoor areas of their workplaces. However, these policies do not completely protect Wyoming workers from secondhand smoke (Table 4); 20% of adults reported breathing secondhand smoke at work in the past week (WYSAC, 2018a). Because workers in small communities may not be able to realistically factor a potential employer’s smoking policy into their decision about where to work, ensuring the protection of these workers from involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke remains a public health challenge in Wyoming.

Between 2002 and 2017, the percentage of Wyoming adults who did not allow smoking inside their homes increased from 72% to 89%, possibly as a result of efforts from the TPCP, CDC, and other public health organizations (e.g., the Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation) to discourage smoking in the home—such as around children (WYSAC, 2018a).

According to the Wyoming 2016 School Health Profiles Report: Trend Analysis Report (2017), schools qualify as tobacco-free when there is a policy that specifically prohibits the use of all types of tobacco (including cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, cigars, and pipes, but not necessarily ENDS/e-cigarettes) by all people (all students, faculty/staff, and visitors) at all times (including during non-school hours) and in all places (including school-sponsored events held off campus). In 2016, 40% of Wyoming schools had tobacco-free policies, a significant decrease from 50% in 2014. This decrease, after having increased between 2010 and 2014, indicates a developing public health challenge in Wyoming.

Since the most recent data, teen vaping has become an epidemic (FDA, 2018; USDHHS, 2018). Concerns about teen vaping may create an opportunity for schools to review their overall tobacco policies.

Support for smokefree policies in indoor workplaces has steadily increased from 71% in 2002 to 83% in 2017. Support for smokefree policies in restaurants has also steadily increased from 57% in 2002 to 79% in 2017 (WYSAC, 2018a). Educational and social norming efforts implemented by the Wyoming TPCP, the CDC, and other organizations (e.g., the Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation) that promote public health probably contributed to these changes in opinion. More Wyoming adults stated that smoking should never be allowed in casinos, clubs, or bars in 2017 than in 2015, but support for smokefree bars was lower than for other venues, marking a challenge for protecting customers and employees from the health impacts of secondhand smoke in Wyoming (Figure 12; WYSAC, 2018a). Recent national data are not available for comparison, likely because of the large number of comprehensive smokefree indoor air laws.