Jackson Free Press

The city of Hattiesburg decreased heart attacks by 13 percent since passing a city-wide smoking ban in 2007, a Mississippi State University study released yesterday found.

The study examined the number of heart attack admissions from April 21, 2005 to June 30, 2009 at Forrest General Hospital and Wesley Medical Center in Hattiesburg, and analyzed people admitted to the hospitals who lived inside the city limits compared to those outside the city limits, where no ban exists.

Hattiesburg residents experienced a 13.4 percent decrease in heart-attack admissions compared to a 3.8 percent increase in admissions among those not living in the city. MSU researchers concluded that the hospitals saved more than $2.3 million in costs as a result of the smoking ban.

The report concludes that Mississippi could experience a "substantial decrease in heart attacks, as well as substantial cost savings, if more communities and/or the state implemented smoke-free laws."