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Objective: To determine if the Ohio statewide smoke-free law is associated with economic activity in Ohio or Kentucky counties that lie on the border between the two states. In November 2006, Ohio implemented a comprehensive statewide smoke-free law for all indoor workplaces., Design: A feasible generalised least squares (FLGS) time series design to estimate the impact of the Ohio smoke-free law on Kentucky and Ohio border counties., Setting: Six Kentucky and six Ohio counties that lie on the border between the two states., Subjects: All reporting hospitality and accommodation establishments in all Kentucky and Ohio counties including but not limited to food and drinking establishments, hotels and casinos., Main Outcome Measures: Total number of employees, total wages paid and number of reported establishments in all hospitality and accommodation services, 6 years before Ohio's law and 1 year after., Results: There is no evidence of a disproportionate change in economic activity in Ohio or Kentucky border counties relative to their non-border counterparts. There was no evidence of a relation between Ohio's smoke-free law and economic activity in Kentucky border counties. The law generated a positive influence on wages and number of establishments in Ohio border counties. The null result cannot be explained by low test power, as minimum changes necessary in the dependent variables to detect a significant influence are very reasonable in size., Conclusions: Our data add to the large body of evidence that smoke-free laws are neutral with respect to the hospitality business across jurisdictions with and without laws.

Objective: To determine the effect of municipal smoke-free laws in Kentucky on gross and/or net revenues from charitable gaming activities. Between January 2000 and June 2007, 13 Kentucky communities implemented smoke-free legislation; only three specifically exempted charitable gaming facilities and compliance in several communities was not consistent. Kentucky is a tobacco-growing state that has the highest smoking rate in the United States., Design: A fixed-effects time series design to estimate the impact of municipal smoke-free laws on charitable gaming., Setting: 13 Kentucky counties that implemented smoke-free laws during the study period of January 2000 through June 2007., Subjects: All charitable gaming facilities in 13 counties in which a smoke-free ordinance was enacted during the study period., Main Outcome Measures: Gross and net revenues from charitable gaming activities in each county for each quarter of the study period, obtained from the Kentucky Department of Charitable Gaming., Results: When controlling for economic variables, county-specific effects and time trends using a robust statistical framework, there was no significant relation between smoke-free laws and charitable gaming revenues. Municipal smoke-free legislation had no effect on charitable gaming revenues., Conclusions: No significant harm to charitable gaming revenues was associated with the smoke-free legislation during the 7.5-year study period, despite the fact that Kentucky is a tobacco-producing state with higher-than-average smoking rates.

Objective: To determine whether Lexington, Kentucky's smoke-free law affected employment and business closures in restaurants and bars. On 27 April 2004, Lexington-Fayette County implemented a comprehensive ordinance prohibiting smoking in all public buildings, including bars and restaurants. Lexington is located in a major tobacco-growing state that has the highest smoking rate in the US and was the first Kentucky community to become smoke-free., Design: A fixed-effects time series design to estimate the effect of the smoke-free law on employment and ordinary least squares to estimate the effect on business openings and closings., Subjects and Settings: All restaurants and bars in Lexington-Fayette County, Kentucky and the six contiguous counties., Main Outcome Measures: ES-202 employment data from the Kentucky Workforce Cabinet; Business opening/closings data from the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department, Environmental Division., Results: A positive and significant relationship was observed between the smoke-free legislation and restaurant employment, but no significant relationship was observed with bar employment. No relationship was observed between the law's implementation and employment in contiguous counties nor between the smoke-free law and business openings or closures in alcohol-serving and or non-alcohol-serving businesses., Conclusions: No important economic harm stemmed from the smoke-free legislation over the period studied, despite the fact that Lexington is located in a tobacco-producing state with higher-than-average smoking rates.

Objective: To test a novel approach for building consensus about tobacco control policies among legislators., Design: A pilot study was conducted using a two-round, face-to-face policy Delphi method., Participants: Randomly selected sample of 30 former Kentucky legislators (60% participation rate)., Main Outcome Measure: Consensus on tobacco control and tobacco farming policies., Results: Former state legislators were more supportive of tobacco control policies than expected, and highly supportive of lessening the state's dependence on tobacco. Former state legislators were in agreement with 43% of the second-round items for which there was no agreement at the first round, demonstrating a striking increase in consensus. With new information from their colleagues, former lawmakers became more supportive of workplace smoking restrictions, limitations on tobacco promotional items, and modest excise tax increases., Conclusions: The policy Delphi method has the potential for building consensus for tobacco control and tobacco farming policies among state legislators. Tobacco control advocates in other states might consider using the policy Delphi method with policymakers in public and private sectors.