Non-enforcement tools for vice suppression deserve more attention
Michael Bloomberg, the Washington Post once claimed, “may be Big Tobacco’s biggest enemy.” By the time that claim was made, the former mayor was fighting smoking through his philanthropic ventures. But during his decade in Gracie Mansion, reducing smoking was among Bloomberg’s top priorities. He banned smoking in bars, restaurants and parks; raised the smoking age to 21; hiked cigarette taxes; and banned flavored cigarettes.
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It’s hard to argue that Bloomberg’s war on smoking didn’t work. Adult smoking in New York City declined 28% between 2002 and 2012, a 10-year retrospective on the program noted, while youth smoking fell by more than half in approximately the same period. The average number of cigarettes smoked per day fell too. Today, under 10% of city residents smoke, down from 14.8% a decade ago — a steeper drop than in the rest of America. By the end of his term, 82% of New Yorkers supported the restaurant ban, making it more popular than other Bloomberg policies like the city’s new public plazas or the Citi Bike program.
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Charles Fain Lehman is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor of City Journal.
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