ATLANTA , Georgia ( CNN ) -- Implementing smoke-free policies can lead to fewer hospitalizations resulting from heart attacks , according to a new study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . A new study says smoking ordinances can lead to fewer hospitalizations from heart attacks . Researchers studied the impact of smoke-free ordinances implemented in Pueblo , Colorado , in July 2003 . They compared the number of hospitalizations for heart attacks 18 months before the policy went into effect and three years after implementation . The Pueblo Heart Study found that although 399 people were hospitalized for heart attacks before any smoke-free laws went into effect , that number dropped to 237 three years after the law 's introduction , a 41 percent decline . The study was published in the CDC 's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on Wednesday . The accompanying editorial suggests that there may be several reasons the ordinance may have led to a reduction in the number of heart attack-related hospitalizations : . • The ordinance led to an immediate decrease in secondhand smoke exposure . • People who were forced to comply with smoke-free rules in public may have adopted a smoke-free environment at home and thus reduced the exposure to secondhand smoke even more . • Restrictions to where you can smoke may have led more people to quit smoking altogether . While the Colorado researcher did n't know if the study participants were smokers or non-smokers , the CDC 's editorial points out that the new study adds to research from eight other studies , which also saw a drop in heart attack related hospitalizations after smoke-free laws are enforced . A 2006 Surgeon General report concluded that `` exposure of adults to secondhand smoke has immediate adverse effects on the cardiovascular system and causes coronary heart disease and lung cancer . '' According to the National Cancer Institute and American Cancer Society , secondhand smoke is the combination of two types of smoke that is produced when burning tobacco : the smoke that comes from the burning end of a cigarette , cigar or pipe and the smoke that is exhaled by the smoker . The Environmental Protection Agency has classified secondhand smoke as a known human cancer-causing agent . According to the cancer institute , there is no safe level of secondhand smoke , and it can have an immediate effect `` on a person 's heart and blood vessels . '' It may raise the risk of heart disease by 25 to 30 percent and cause about 46,000 heart disease deaths annually , according to the NCI Web site .
Researchers studied effects of anti-smoking ordinances in Colorado . Hospitalizations for heart attacks went down 41 percent , study found . Editorial suggests several reasons for possible correlation .