Twelve reviews summarize the health-related effects of smoking bans and restrictions in public spaces, workplaces or residences. Three are strong in quality [
14‐
16], eight are moderate [
17‐
24] and one is rated as moderate by HE and as strong by HSE [
25]. Overall, most of the eight reviews on smoking behaviour reported reductions in smoking prevalence and cigarette consumption and increases in smoking cessation [
14,
15,
17‐
19,
21,
24,
25]. Hopkins et al. found that workplace smoke-free policies lead to an absolute reduction in smoking prevalence of 3.4 % (interquartile range (IQR) = −6.3 to −1.4), reduced cigarette consumption by 2.2 cigarettes per day (IQR = −1.7 to −3.3), increased quit attempts by 4.1 % (IQR = −0.7 to 6.8) and increased successful cessation by 6.4 % (IQR = 2.0 to 9.7) [
15]. Three reviews found inconsistent evidence for smoking prevalence or cessation, but reported improvements in other smoking behaviour outcomes [
14,
18,
21]. Thomas et al. looked at the effect of smoking bans on social inequalities in smoking [
19] and Kohler and Minkner reviewed the conditions under which state smoking bans are effective [
24], but neither assessed their overall efficacy. Three reviews investigating SHS all reported reductions in SHS exposure with smoke-free policies, in both adults and children and across various settings including workplaces, public spaces and hospitality establishments [
14,
21,
25]. Similarly, all six reviews investigating primary health outcomes found decreases in adverse events [
16,
20‐
23,
25]. Tan and Glantz looked at hospital admissions data and found a reduced risk of admission for coronary events (relative risk (RR) = 0.85, 95 % confidence interval (CI) = 0.82 to 0.88), other heart diseases (RR = 0.61, 95 % CI = 0.44 to 0.85), cerebrovascular accidents (RR = 0.81, 95 % CI = 0.70 to 0.94) and respiratory diseases (RR = 0.76, 95 % CI = 0.68 to 0.85) with smoke-free policies [
22]. The reductions were greatest with comprehensive policies that banned smoking in workplaces, restaurants and bars. Therefore, there is very strong evidence that smoke-free legislation reduces smoking behaviour, exposure to SHS and adverse health outcomes.