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Scotland banned smoking in enclosed public places in March 2006. Investigators sought to determine if the implementation of this legislation reduced the number of hospitalizations for acute coronary syndrome.
In the 10 months before the legislation was enacted, 3235 patients with ACS were admitted to nine hospitals that accounted for 64% of all ACS admissions in Scotland (population, about 5 million). In the 10 same months after the legislation, ACS admissions in those nine hospitals decreased significantly by 17%. Using prospectively collected self-reported and laboratory data, the researchers calculated that nonsmokers represented about two thirds of the admissions prevented. In England, which had no public smoking ban at the time, the num…