Less Smoke = Less Heart Disease

Back when I was a kid, we made ashtrays. They were by far the easiest things to make out of clay -- nice and flat, with little finger-sized indents for the cigs.

And my ashtrays were used. Every time a friend came over, someone pulled out their pack of cigs -- and over time, my ashtrays got a good workout.

Then the evidence started to pour in that smoking could really damage your health, and slowly but surely the demand for ashtrays diminished. Today, my kids have to work much harder at their pottery to make cups, plates, and spoon holders.

Is it all worth it?

The answer, we can now say for sure, is yes. The evidence is in, and the news is good: smoking bans really do improve your health.

In fact, according to researcher Lynn Goldman of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in a Science Daily article, "Bans reduce the risks of heart attack in nonsmokers as well as smokers ... there is no question that smoking bans have a positive health effect."

How much of an impact do smoking bans have on health? The findings, based on 11 key studies, suggest that "reductions in the incidence of heart attacks range from 6 percent to 47 percent." While that's a pretty vague number, the overall finding is clear: less smoke = less heart disease.

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