By Yonge Street Media
April 21, 2010

Business Week recently reported on the positive effects the Toronto smoking ban has had on the state of the city's public health. A study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found that Toronto hospital admissions for heart and respiratory problems fell by as much as a third since the ban took effect in 2001.

"The 10-year population study found 39 percent fewer admissions for cardiovascular conditions such as heart attack, angina and stroke, and 33 percent fewer admissions for respiratory problems such as asthma, emphysema, and pneumonia or bronchitis after the ban went into effect."

"The findings are "consistent with the evidence that exposure to secondhand smoke is detrimental to health and legitimizes legislative efforts to further reduce exposure," wrote Dr. Alisa Naiman, of the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences at the University of Toronto, and colleagues."

"Further research is needed to determine which types of smoking bans are most effective, they added."

The 2009 Toronto's Vital Signs® Report revealed that the number of current smokers over the age of 12 in the City of Toronto was unchanged in 2008 at 18%. Among those between the ages of 20 and 34 actually increased to 25.5% in 2008 from 23.8% in 2005.