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Folks still opposed to a statewide ban on smoking in bars, restaurants and worksites need to check out a three-year study by the Centers for Disease Control of the smoking ban in Pueblo, Colorado. Researchers found a 41 percent reduction in hospital admissions for heart attacks.

Smoke-free laws likely reduce heart attack hospitalizations both by reducing secondhand smoke exposure among nonsmokers and by reducing smoking, with the first factor making the larger contribution.

Two areas near Pueblo that did not ban smoking in public places had no significant decrease in heart attack hospitalizations.