A total of 22 investigations of the impact of total or partial smoking bans suggest that the policies have had no major longstanding untoward effect in terms of behavioral indicators of unrest or compliance. However, the policies appear to have had little or no effect on smoking cessation. Smoking cessation strategies should be an inherent component of policies that ban smoking.

The majority of interventions combined medication and psychoeducation. Although the studies were not uniform enough to allow a meta-analysis, the recorded quit rates of patients with psychiatric disorders were similar to those of the general population. Clinicians could usefully devote more effort to smoking cessation in populations with mental illness or addictions.