Attitudes towards the Law on smoke-free hospitals, kindergartens, and schools in the Federal State of Bremen

Background. Second-hand smoke causes a range of chronic and fatal conditions, including lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The Federal State of Bremen banned smoking in hospitals, schools, and kindergartens as protection from passive smoking in August 2006. The paper reports on a survey which was planned to assess the attitudes of the affected employees towards the law. Methods. Teachers of all 210 kindergartens and 124 secondary schools as well as the employees of 4 hospitals in Bremen and Bremer-haven (a total of N=14,900) were sent a standardized questionnaire, asking for smoking status and attitudes toward the law. Results. Of the employees, 10.4% (kindergartens) to 27.8% (hospitals) are daily smokers. One third tried to stop smoking in the last 12 months. Nearly a third of them will reduce smoking at their workplace; 12.4-23.2% hope that they will quit smoking. More than three quarters (between 74.0 and 81.1%) support the law and evaluate it as positive. Conclusions. The legislative action is widely supported, even among smokers. Daily smokers hope that the law will help them to quit smoking.