The Case Against Smoking Bans

Abstract

This article contends that government-imposed smoking bans cannot be justified as responses to market failure, as means of shaping preferences, or on risk-reduction grounds. Smoking bans reduce public welfare by preventing an optimal allocation of nonsmoking and smoking-permitted public places. A laissez-faire approach better accommodates heterogeneous preferences regarding public smoking.

Keywords: the case against smoking bans, thomas a. lambert, smoking bans, government regulations, negative externality, environmental tobacco smoke, secondhand smoke, rights violations, public costs, preference-shaping arguement, risk argument,

JEL Classification: D18, D62, D63, D78, D71, I18, K39,