ISSUE

01

NEWSLETTER

Smoke-Free Arizona

VOLUME 01
December 2009

The SmokeFree Arizona
Act: For the
People, By the
People
November 6, 2006
marks the date
when the citizens of
Arizona made their
voices heard by
passing the SmokeFree Arizona Act,
A.R.S. § 36-601.01.
The resulting statute is the combined
effort of many different organizations
and individuals that
wanted a cleaner
and healthier Arizona. Some of the
supporters of the
Act were the American Lung Association of Arizona, the
American Heart Association, the
American Cancer
Society, and Arizonan’s Concerned
About Smoking
among many others. Ultimately, the
Smoke-Free Arizona Act was a citizen initiated law
that is truly for the
people and by the
people.

This issue:
The Basics P.1
Exemptions of the Act P.2
What Proprietors Need to Know P.3
Call Us P.4

Reviewing the Basics of the
Smoke-Free Arizona Act
This newsletter was created to
inform the public about the requirements of the Smoke-Free
Arizona Act, A.R.S. § 36-601.01
(“the Act”), share updates with
the community, and help businesses to comply with the Act.

• Office buildings and work areas
such as meeting rooms, employee
lounges, classrooms, and private offices

The purpose of the Act is to
protect workers, customers,
and the general public from the
harmful effects of secondhand
smoke. The Act became effective on May 1, 2007 and prohibits smoking in most enclosed
public places and places of employment, including (but not
limited to):

• Vehicles owned by the employer
and operated during working hours if
the vehicle is occupied by more than
one person

• Restaurants, bars, grocery
stores, or any food service establishment

• Health care facilities such as hospitals, clinics, and doctors’ offices

• Enclosed common areas in hotels
and motels
• Lobbies, elevators, restrooms, reception areas, halls, stairways, and
any other enclosed common-use areas in public and private buildings
including condominiums and other
multiple-unit residential facilities

Smoke-Free Arizona
Leadership for a Healthy Arizona
1

Arizona — The
16th Smoke-Free
State
On November 6,
2006, Arizona became the 16th
state to pass a
comprehensive
smoke-free air law
when Proposition
201 was approved
by Arizona voters.

Exemptions of the Act

Arizona Earns an
“A” Grade
In 2008, Arizona
earned an “A”
grade on the
American Lung
Association State
of Tobacco Control Report for
maintaining a
strong and comprehensive enforcement program for
the Smoke-Free
Arizona Act. The
report states that
the hard-fought efforts of the SmokeFree Arizona campaign continue to
make Arizona a
leader in protecting
the health of its citizens.

While the goal of the Smoke-Free
Arizona Act is to protect Arizona’s
citizens from the dangers of secondhand smoke in enclosed public
places and places of employment,
there are some exempt places, defined by A.R.S. § 36-601.01 (B),
where smoking can be allowed.
• Private residences (except when
used as a licensed child care, adult
day care, or health care facility)
• Hotel and motel rooms designated as smoking rooms (no more
than fifty percent of rooms rented to
guests in a hotel or motel are so designated)
• Retail tobacco stores (physically
separated and independently ventilated so that smoke from retail tobacco stores does not infiltrate nonsmoking areas)
• Veterans and fraternal clubs
when they are not open to the general public

• Smoking when associated with
religious ceremonies practiced
pursuant to the American Indian
Religious Freedom Act of 1978
• Outdoor patios so long as tobacco smoke does not enter into
areas where smoking is prohibited through entrances, windows,
ventilation systems, or other
means
• Theatrical performances
upon a stage or in the course of a
film production or television production if the smoking is part of
the performance or production
Tribes are Sovereign Nations.
The Smoke-Free Arizona Act has
no application on Indian reservations as defined in A.R.S. 42-3301
(2).
Note: There are provisions for each exemption that must be met in order to be
considered exempted from the Law

2

Arizona’s
Smoking Rate
Improves

What Proprietors Really Need to Know
About the Smoke-Free Arizona Act
These are the simple things you
need to do as an employer or
business owner to comply with
the Smoke-Free Arizona Act:
• Remove all indoor ashtrays and
smoking receptacles and move all
outdoor ashtrays and smoking receptacles at least 20 feet away
from entrances
• Post the required “No Smoking”
signs at every entrance into to your
establishment, available free of
charge online at
smokefreearizona.org

3

• Inform all existing and prospective employees about the Act
• Prohibit anyone such as employees, vendors, and customers from
smoking within 20 feet of all entrances and inside your place of
business
• Politely inform violators smoking
inside or within 20 feet of an entrance to extinguish their lit tobacco product or to go outside
and at least 20 feet away from the
entrance to smoke

The 2008 Behavioral Risk Factor
Survey* shows
that Arizona’s
smoking rate
among adults improved from 19.7%
in 2007 to 15.7%
in 2008. This is a
20% drop in the
number of Arizonans that smoke.
These new figures
rate Arizona as the
seventh-lowest in
the nation in terms
of smoking prevalence, a significant
decline from a year
earlier when Arizona was 25thlowest.
*This data is from the
2008 Behavioral Risk
Factor Surveillance
System, which is the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention’s annual
survey of the nation’s
health.

Opinion Poll
2008
La Paz County
Education &
Prevention Program conducted a
Smoke-Free
Arizona public
opinion survey
in the fall of
2008. The results of the survey revealed
that public support of the Act
is at a staggering 75%. Based
on the survey
findings, La
Paz County will
continue outreach to the
public, public
service announcements,
and routine
educational visits.

“Thank you
for helping
make our dining, shopping,
and entertainment experiences more
breathable!”
La Paz County
Citizen

Call Us

For More Information or to
Report a Violation
The public is encouraged to call the Arizona Department of Health Services for more information or to report businesses that are not in compliance with the
Smoke-Free Arizona Act. Complaints may be filed
anonymously and are investigated within 15 days after
receipt of the complaint.
Complaints may be reported to the Arizona Department
of Health Services by:

If you need more
information about
the Smoke-Free
Arizona Act or if
you are not sure
whether your
complaint is a
violation, call us.
We will be happy
to clarify any
questions you
may have about
the Act or to
place the complaint on your
behalf.
We are just a
phone call
away!

Arizona Department
of Health Services

• Visiting our website at smokefreearizona.org to
submit an online form
• Sending an e-mail to nosmokingarizona@azdhs.gov

Office of Environ-

• Calling the toll-free number

Smoke-Free Arizona

mental Health
Program

For more information about the Act, or to view our
brochures addressing:
•
•
•
•

Information about the Act
Employers
Outdoor Areas
Private Residences and Multi-Family Housing

150 N. 18th Avenue,
Suite 430
Phoenix, AZ 85007

Please visit our website at smokefreearizona.org.

Smoke-Free Arizona Newsletter ● Issue 01 ● Volume 01 ● December 2009

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