The 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

Objective: It is known that second hand smoke has a great negative impact not only on the environment but also on human health. Even though the federal government in Brazil has passed a law to forbid smoking indoors in public places, not all establishments follow it. The purpose of this study is to identify factors that may contribute to whether or not establishment owners and managers support and enforce this law in their places.

Methods: This qualitative study consisted of 20 in-depth interviews with a small sample of owners and/or managers of different types of entertainment places and clients. All interviews were tape recorded, transcribed and then analyzed according to their content.

Results: The content analysis of the interviews allowed us to list four factors that may be considered major barriers to the implementation and enforcement of the law, as to know: cultural and collective identity (individual/social group characteristics/beliefs and their reaction towards the tobacco issues), political appropriateness (the acknowledgment of the existent law, the political efficacy and the willingness to enforce the law), social relationships and expectation (the perceptions about the law and tobacco issues, besides enablers and nurtures were found to be strong influences), cultural and political empowerment (positive, negative and existential values, beliefs and practices about the law and secondhand smoke).