Final answer:
The policy is known as the Smoke-Free Environment Policy, designed to protect the public from secondhand smoke exposure. In the Tobaccoville scenario, the ban on smoking in restaurants would yield a total benefit of $200 million to residents, with a cost of $10 million to local tobacco companies. The correct option is A).
Step-by-step explanation:
The policy that prohibits the use of tobacco products and all forms of inhaling, exhaling, and burning products on-site is known as the Smoke-Free Environment Policy.
This type of policy is usually implemented to protect the public from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke, which contains over 7,000 substances and is classified by the EPA as a Group A carcinogen.
Despite smoking not being illegal in the United States, the government has the authority to regulate where smoking is allowed because of the health risks associated with secondhand smoke exposure.
In the hypothetical scenario involving Tobaccoville, the government is considering a ban on smoking in restaurants. The total benefits of this proposed policy would be $200 million ($200 benefit to each of the 1 million residents), while the total costs would be $10 million ($5 million cost to each of the two tobacco companies).
Analyzing the costs and benefits can help predict whether such a policy might pass, considering both the public health benefits and the economic impact on tobacco businesses. Option A) is the correct one.