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Expanding the ban on smoking in public
By Nie Xin |
September 3, 2009, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
HANGZHOU may be heavenly but it's also a paradise for smokers. The city is trying to break the habit and lose the butts. Nie Xin reports.Hanghou, like other Chinese cities, is wreathed in unhealthy cigarette smoke, but it's tackling the problem of too many butts.
It has expanded the number of non-smoking public places and banned all sales of tobacco and tobacco products on May 31, World No Smoking Day.
Anti-smoking education will be stepped up and people will be encouraged not to smoke, at least on that day.
The new Regulation of Smoking Control in Public Venues in Hangzhou was approved late last month.
Hangzhou, a city of 7.7 million people, currently has an estimated 2.5 million smokers, though that figure may be low. The proportion of young smokers is increasing andpeople are smoking ata younger age.
Almost 40 percent of young people are suffering from the dangerous effects of passive smoke, according to recent research by Hangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Another study of 500 university students, all smokers, shows that 36 percent of young smokers took their first puff in high school; 29 percent first smoked a cigarette in universty; 17 percent started in primary school and 18 percent started in middle school.
The new regulation expands the number of public places where smoking is banned - it adds 10 major public places, including meeting rooms, cinemas and music halls.
Smoking is already banned in medical institutes, nurseries, kindergartens, schools, student dormitories and activity venues, archives, libraries, museums, art galleries, exhibition halls, science and technology centers, stadiums, gymnastic halls, buses and taxis, etc.
Under the new regulation, smoking is forbidden at major events held in parks, plazas and other large gathering places.
In addition, the new regulation designated non-smoking areas in offices, supermarkets, restaurants and entertainment venues.
Enforcing smoking bans is a problem nationwide.
The regulation calls for smoking-control monitors and groups to assist in telling smokers to stop.
It has expanded the number of non-smoking public places and banned all sales of tobacco and tobacco products on May 31, World No Smoking Day.
Anti-smoking education will be stepped up and people will be encouraged not to smoke, at least on that day.
The new Regulation of Smoking Control in Public Venues in Hangzhou was approved late last month.
Hangzhou, a city of 7.7 million people, currently has an estimated 2.5 million smokers, though that figure may be low. The proportion of young smokers is increasing andpeople are smoking ata younger age.
Almost 40 percent of young people are suffering from the dangerous effects of passive smoke, according to recent research by Hangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Another study of 500 university students, all smokers, shows that 36 percent of young smokers took their first puff in high school; 29 percent first smoked a cigarette in universty; 17 percent started in primary school and 18 percent started in middle school.
The new regulation expands the number of public places where smoking is banned - it adds 10 major public places, including meeting rooms, cinemas and music halls.
Smoking is already banned in medical institutes, nurseries, kindergartens, schools, student dormitories and activity venues, archives, libraries, museums, art galleries, exhibition halls, science and technology centers, stadiums, gymnastic halls, buses and taxis, etc.
Under the new regulation, smoking is forbidden at major events held in parks, plazas and other large gathering places.
In addition, the new regulation designated non-smoking areas in offices, supermarkets, restaurants and entertainment venues.
Enforcing smoking bans is a problem nationwide.
The regulation calls for smoking-control monitors and groups to assist in telling smokers to stop.
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