Abstract
Objectives: This study explored and measured the presence, content and growth of municipal no-smoking by-laws and examined factors related to differences in by-law breadth and comprehensiveness.
Methods: By-laws from each jurisdiction across Ontario were collected and scored relative to their breadth and restrictiveness using the Asbridge-O’Grady Index. Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance was used to compare the distributions of municipal characteristics among the regulatory level of municipal smoking legislation.
Results: Twenty-three percent of Ontario municipalities (215/951) had enacted smoking by-laws by the end of 1998 compared to 18% (169/951) in 1994. Larger municipalities tend to be significantly more restrictive than smaller municipalities.
Conclusion: No-smoking legislation has become more extensive and restrictive in Ontario since the passage of the 1994 Tobacco Control Act. There was little legislative variability among the regions that contained tobacco-producing municipalities and those that did not.
Résumé
Objectifs: nous voulions étudier et mesurer l’existence, la teneur et l’évolution des règlements municipaux contre le tabagisme et examiner les facteurs pouvant expliquer les écarts dans la portée et l’intégralité de ces règlements.
Méthode: nous avons consulté les règlements de chaque municipalité ontarienne en leur attribuant un score, à l’aide de l’indice Asbridge-O’Grady, pour en établir la portée et les restrictions. Par analyse de variance Kruskal-Wallis, nous avons comparé la répartition des caractéristiques des municipalités selon le niveau de restriction de la réglementation anti-tabac.
Résultats: 23 % des municipalités onta-riennes (215/951) avaient des règlements anti-tabac à la fin de 1998, contre 18 % (169/951) en 1994. Les grandes municipalités ont eu tendance à adopter des règlements beaucoup plus restrictifs que les petites.
Conclusion: la portée et la sévérité des règlements anti-tabac ont augmenté en Ontario depuis la promulgation, en 1994, de la Loi réglementant les produits du tabac. Nous avons constaté peu d’écarts sur le plan de la réglementation entre les régions comportant des municipalités productrices de tabac et les régions qui n’en comportent pas.
Footnotes
This project was carried out with funding provided by the Ontario Ministry of Health and with the cooperation of Public Health Units in the province of Ontario.
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