Diffusion of clean indoor air ordinances in the southwestern United States

The authors investigate the process through which clean indoor air ordinances were considered in 10 communities in the southwestern United States and key factors that influenced diffusion and adoption. Clean indoor air ordinances, which ban smoking in public places, were adopted in approximately 1,409 U.S. communities from 1986 to April 2004. The authors gathered data from 10 communities in New Mexico and Texas by means of face-to-face interview, e-mail, and telephone interviews and by analyzing archival materials. Important influences on the adoption or rejection of clean indoor air ordinances were (a) personal experiences of policy champions, (b) local framing of the ordinance as a public health issue versus as an economic/ business or an individual rights issue, and (c) interpersonal networks connecting a community to previously adopting communities. The policies that were adopted ranged in comprehensiveness, with each community of study reinventing model policies obtained from other communities.