Across the country, 83% of households reported as having smoke-free policies in 2010-2011, up from 43% in 1992-1993. This is according to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), analyzing data from a U.S. Census survey. The report considered a home to be smoke-free if all adult survey respondents “reported that no one was allowed to smoke (cigarettes) anywhere inside the home at any time.”
The report found that 91.4% of households without adult smokers were smoke-free in 2010-2011 (up from 56.7% in 1992-1993). In households with at least one adult smoker, the prevalence of smoke-free rules increased from 9.6% to 46.1% across this same period.
The share of smoke-free homes in Connecticut was 84.6% in 2010-2011, slightly above the national average.
The CDC report, citing a report from the Surgeon General, states that exposure to secondhand smoke from cigarettes leads to an estimated 41,000 deaths annually among nonsmoking adults.
