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The New Jersey Smoke-Free Air Act

Summaries, text, regulations

• synopsis of the NJ SFAA
• more complete description of exceptions to the NJ SFAA
• full text of the NJ SFAA, P. L. 2005, Chapter 383, N.J.S. 26:3D-55 et seq. (on the New Jersey Legislature website)
• DHSS rules, applications for exceptions, notice for violators, complaint form, and form to anonymously request an investigation
• using local laws to enhance and augment the NJ SFAA

Enforcement

Implementing the NJ SFAA in all sites

• common sense perspectives to help overcome hesitation and change attitudes
• top tips for implementation
• suggestions on research, vocabulary, fairness, education, those who smoke, materials, etc.
• checklist for action
• success stories

Implementing the NJ SFAA in particular sites

• workplaces - office, factory, and service
• government facilities
• schools
• health care facilities (coming soon)
• public places
• restaurants, bars, other hospitality sites
• rented and leased residences, condos
• outdoor sites

FAQs

• frequently asked questions

Signs, Materials

• signs: downloadable samples and NJ SFAA requirements
• other materials (will be available here as soon as the NJ DHSS issues them)

Using local laws to enhance and augment the NJ SFAA

• using local laws to enhance and augment the NJ SFAA (coming soon)
• local laws database

Empirical background for the NJ SFAA

New Jersey air monitoring study:

• news release
• charts of primary results
• New Jersey Air Monitoring Study Report (Roswell Park Cancer Institute and New Jersey GASP, November, 2005)

Local Authority Resolution Project

• About the project
  • Summary of Resolution Project (1 page, less than 500 words)
  • Fact Sheet about the Resolution Project (4 pages, 1,700 words)
• Resolution(s) and supporting cover letter
  • Sample cover letter supporting passage of the resolution
  • One-page resolution supporting local authority (Resolution A)
  • Complete version of Resolution A, with full citations
  • Abridged, one-page Resolution A, as distributed by the New Jersey League of Municipalities
  • One-page resolution supporting statewide, non-preemptive, smokefree air legislation (Resolution B) ? complementary project
  • Complete version of Resolution B, with full citations
• Tracking of resolutions passed
  • Chart of resolutions passed
• Challenges to local authority in New Jersey, preemption information
  • ?After Princeton, what can municipalities do about tobacco??
  • ?Authority for smokefree public places? (legal arguments that there is no preemption)
  • ?Local tobacco-control laws are essential ...?
  • ?Americans for Nonsmokers? Rights website, with information about preemption
  • Protect Local Control, new website devoted entirely to preemption information
• Local legislation in New Jersey and the U.S., model ordinance
  • Database of existing New Jersey local tobacco-control ordinances, searchable by enacting authority, date, location, category, provisions
  • Americans for Nonsmokers? Rights website, which lists smokefree air legislation throughout the nation
  • Key provisions for a smokefree air ordinance (model ordinance)
• Additional information on tobacco control and tobacco-industry opposition
  • Common Cause studies: Influence of tobacco industry costs states lives and money
  • American Lung Association?s 2004 ?report card? showing New Jersey got an F in tobacco-control legislation
  • Center for Tobacco-Free Kids 2004 report on the toll of tobacco in New Jersey
  • Center for Tobacco-Free Kids 2004 report on New Jersey?s funding for tobacco prevention

Other New Jersey state laws on tobacco

• State Laws on Tobacco in New Jersey
• State Laws at a Glance

A November 2006 New Jersey Air Monitoring Study, post-New Jersey Smoke-Free Air Act (excluding the casinos):

• short summary (two paragraphs)
• executive summary
• news release
• charts of primary results
• full report (22 pages)
  
  

A November 2005 New Jersey Air Monitoring Study, pre-New Jersey Smoke-Free Air Act (excluding the casinos):

• short summary (two paragraphs)
• executive summary
• news release
• charts of primary results
• full report (21 pages)

Descriptions of conditions appear in many of 1,500 letters to key legislators; go to  www.smokefree.net/nj and click on "see letters already sent"Borgata casino's notice that employees will be exposed to secondhand smoke

Compliance with the New Jersey Smoke-Free Air Act

Media reports on violations in smoking-prohibited areas

Press of Atlantic City, April 23, 2006, "Smoking ban news to many at casinos"Press of Atlantic City, July 17, 2006, "Many in Atlantic City blowing off smoke ban"

American Gaming Association acknowledges 2006 Surgeon General's report

New Jersey Casinos Are Violating the New Jersey Smoke-Free Air Act, New Jersey GASP

Short summaryAGA note to reader (in IAQ report)

US Surgeon General's 2006 report

short summary, New Jersey GASPfact sheet, Surgeon Generalsections about casino workers, from the Surgeon General's report

Secondhand smoke increases miscarriage risk - Pregnant women exposed to secondhand smoke were 67 percent more likely to miscarry than those who weren't exposed, according to a September, 2006 study. Click here to read the article from Scientific America.

Health impacts of SHS exposure among London casino workers

Nevada study links casino smoke, DNA damage:

Seattle Post-Intelligencer articlereport from Toxicology Letters

Health improves in smokefree environments

Short Summary Helena, Montana study, respiratory health in bar workers before and after a smoking ban in Dundee, Scotland

Hazards of portable oxygen equipment in smoking-permitted areas

Conclusions and overviews of economic data by governments and governmental authorities

U.S. Surgeon General's Report, 2006

short summarysections about economic impact on casinos, from the Surgeon General's report

New Jersey Office of Revenue and Economic Analysis, report to the New Jersey TreasurerDelaware Governor Minner, letter about impact of state smokefree air law on businesses, casinos

Overview of information, especially economic

Economic facts of smokefree gambling (approximately 5 pages) New Jersey GASP Trends in Smokefree Gaming

text version in PDF format (17 pages)powerpoint version in PDF format (85 pages)

Empirical studies

Smokefree law did not affect revenue from gaming in Delaware

Experiences of smokefree gambling sites

Short summary sections on economics of smokefree gambling sites from "Trends in Smokefree Gaming" list of smokefree casinos (from Americans for Nonsmokers Rights)

Predictions, claims of negative economic impact, with fact-based responses

PricewaterhouseCoopers report for Casino Association of New Jersey

The reason for the PwC report; PwC's connection with the tobacco industryPricewaterhouseCoopers report (26 pages)response to PwC report by Alamarand and Glantz, the University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine, Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education.

claims that the Delaware Clean Indoor Air Act reduced gaming income

short summaryanalysis of Dover Downs racino, Delaware, quarterly reportsAP story on Dover Downs' economic success, October 2006

Atlantic City proposed municipal ordinance regulating smoking in casinos U.S. states and local jurisdictions and foreign jurisdictions with legislation

Lawsuits seeking smokefree casinos, damages from injury from smoke in casinos or multi-unit housing. Call our office for more information

Public opinion

Support for smokefree New Jersey casinos by potential patrons, survey by ICR (international market research organization)

survey news briefSurvey on New Jersey's Proposed Clean Idoor Air Act

1,500 e-letters to legislators supporting smokefree casinos are on www.smokefree.net/nj; click on "see letters already sent" to read them7,000 petition signatures for smokefree casinos are on www.smokefreecasinos.com

Resolutions by municipal governments supporting smokefree casinos

short summarysample resolutionmunicipalities that have passed resolutions

Population data

overwhelming majority of New Jerseyans are nonsmokers
overwhelming majority of people in neighboring states are nonsmokers (select state of interest in left hand navigation bar)

section on voluntarily smokefree gaming sites from "Trends in Smokefree Gaming"list of smokefree casinos (from Americans for NonSmokers Rights)

Other sources for information on smokefree gambling

TobaccoScam.org provides empirical data debunking tobacco industry claims and aims to sharply curtail Big Tobacco’s use and abuse of the U.S. hospitality industry. The site is created by the University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine, Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education.Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights always has excellent resources: click here to see their section on casinos and gamblingwww.smokefreecasinos.com, Atlantic County, created by activists and casino workeres and patrons, has information and an on-line petition

To communicate your opinion about smokefree casinos

to write a letter to be faxed to key legislators, go to www.smokefree.net/nj
to sign a petition for smokefree casinos, go to www.smokefreecasinos.com
to find your legislators, use your local library or go to www.njleg.state.nj.us, in the left hand column, under members, click on "find your legislator".

This page updated January 22, 2010