Starting today, Starbucks will ban smoking within 25 feet of the 7,000 corporate-owned Starbucks stores.

The smoking ban extends the policy of prohibiting smoking inside the stores to the outdoor seating areas as well.  According to the Huffington Post, the ban will not apply to Starbucks stores that are housed within other businesses, such as Target, but it covers most locations in the U.S. and Canada.

In reality, this ban will not change the status quo in a number of states and municipalities that have already enacted legislation banning smoking in restaurants, within a certain distance of an entrance to a public venue, or in enclosed spaces.  As of April 5, 2013, there are 249 municipalities requiring 100-percent smoke-free outdoor dining and bar patio areas according to the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation. For those localities and states that do not extend their bans to the entire outdoor seating area, this will make a change with mixed reception.

The Starbucks ban does go one step further by also prohibiting electronic cigarettes.  Public health risks associated with electronic cigarettes are not well-known yet. Recently, France’s Health Minister has decided to apply all tobacco bans to electronic cigarettes and California is considering a similar legislative proposal.  This portion of the ban is more controversial as some argue that bans on electronic cigarettes are “absurd” and that these products can save lives compared with normal cigarettes.

Despite the controversy over electronic cigarettes, bans on smoking have shown consistently positive impacts on health.  A study published in BMJ showed significantly improved health of staff members at bars in Ireland after smoking was banned in the workplace.  According to another study, published in JAMA, the smoke-free workplace laws showed a significant reduction in admissions for heart attacks and incidences of sudden cardiac death in Olmstead County, Minnesota.  Focusing on outdoor patio smoking bans, a study in Tobacco Control identified that the greatest reduction of public health risk from secondhand smoke came when smoking bans extended to outdoor seating areas.

Some continue to argue that smoking bans are supported by unsubstantiated or overstated studies and overlook the impact of smoking bans on businesses.  Others contend that outdoor smoking bans, in particular, are symbolic.  They are not necessarily enforceable when they extend to all outdoor spaces, but they are enacted anyway to support the idea of a completely smoke-free city.  However, with support of legislators, non-profits, provider organizations, and, now, Starbucks, it seems that public smoking bans will only continue to expand.