6 July 2025
By Ira Mitroshin – WEAU News
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WEAU) -It was on this day fifteen years ago that Wisconsin’s smoke-free indoor air law went into effect. This law banned smoking indoors in public places.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) celebrated this date as an important step in protecting the health of the state’s residents from secondhand smoke exposure, especially service workers.
According to State Health and Division of Public Health Administrator Paula Tran, secondhand smoke exposure continues to be the third leading cause of preventable death in the United States, and so any effort to reduce that exposure remains critical to public health.
Paula Tran also stated that since it was signed into law, the state has seen a decrease in secondhand smoke exposure as well as smoking in general.
“First, it’s reducing exposure for workers and customers. We also know that smoking rates have dropped over the last decade,” said Tran. “We have seen a drop from nineteen percent to twelve percent since 2023.”
Since its passing, the law has received widespread support from all across the state, with seventy-five percent of Wisconsinites expressing support for the smoke-free air law.
Tran says that with the ban on smoking indoors, families and individuals are able to freely go about their daily lives without worrying about secondhand smoke exposure and how it may affect their health.
“It’s been such a wonderful change over time that now we can go into establishments and not worry about both the impacts of smoke on our health, but also on our belongings, our clothes, our hair, and the upkeep of restaurants as well,” said Tran.
DHS encourages those who wish to quit smoking to call the Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line at 1-800-QUIT-NOW.