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Fining venues that allow smoking
By Sean Maguire |
March 22, 2010, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
SO, we're a couple of weeks into the ban on smoking in public spaces in Shanghai - enough time to get a sense of its likely effectiveness - and at this early juncture it seems that very little has changed with regards to pattern of usage of the dreaded weed.
The ban was introduced on March 1 as part of China's commitment to the World Health Organization's anti-tobacco treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control ratified by China in 2006.
It is designed both to prohibit smoking in designated public spaces, notably hospitals and schools, and to ensure that other public venues such as restaurants, karaoke bars and Internet cafes set up clearly marked no-smoking zones.
Much like the clampdown in Beijing before the Olympics, the Shanghai government is making a gesture towards a cleaner air policy, thereby underscoring the maxim "Better City, Better Life" of the World Expo in Shanghai.
Enforcement of the new restrictions is, so far, lamentably weak, particularly in venues that are intuitively associated with rest and relaxation.
It is not difficult to see why. China is home to 350 million smokers and consumes a third of the world's tobacco, with a fifth of the population. Public awareness programs outlining the dangers of smoking have huge difficulty gaining any traction.
A worrying trend is the number of young urban women whose see smoking as a mark of sophistication and cool, Prada bags in one hand and cigarette in the other.
Then there is the money. The tobacco industry in China is valued in the hundreds of billions of dollars and is one of the biggest employers in the country. Another fact is that about 1.2 million Chinese die from smoking-related diseases every year. Lung cancer rates are doubling.
The World Health Organization has estimated that China's tobacco-related health care was costing an estimated US$7.8 billion a year.
For a number of reasons, the newly implemented ban is proving extremely difficult to enforce. A more effective measure would be one similar to that employed in the UK where it is the owners of the venues that are fined for allowing smoking on their premises. This would create a level playing field for all business owners.
(The author is a lawyer at Allbright Law Firm. His e-mail: sbjmaguire39@yahoo.co.uk)
The ban was introduced on March 1 as part of China's commitment to the World Health Organization's anti-tobacco treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control ratified by China in 2006.
It is designed both to prohibit smoking in designated public spaces, notably hospitals and schools, and to ensure that other public venues such as restaurants, karaoke bars and Internet cafes set up clearly marked no-smoking zones.
Much like the clampdown in Beijing before the Olympics, the Shanghai government is making a gesture towards a cleaner air policy, thereby underscoring the maxim "Better City, Better Life" of the World Expo in Shanghai.
Enforcement of the new restrictions is, so far, lamentably weak, particularly in venues that are intuitively associated with rest and relaxation.
It is not difficult to see why. China is home to 350 million smokers and consumes a third of the world's tobacco, with a fifth of the population. Public awareness programs outlining the dangers of smoking have huge difficulty gaining any traction.
A worrying trend is the number of young urban women whose see smoking as a mark of sophistication and cool, Prada bags in one hand and cigarette in the other.
Then there is the money. The tobacco industry in China is valued in the hundreds of billions of dollars and is one of the biggest employers in the country. Another fact is that about 1.2 million Chinese die from smoking-related diseases every year. Lung cancer rates are doubling.
The World Health Organization has estimated that China's tobacco-related health care was costing an estimated US$7.8 billion a year.
For a number of reasons, the newly implemented ban is proving extremely difficult to enforce. A more effective measure would be one similar to that employed in the UK where it is the owners of the venues that are fined for allowing smoking on their premises. This would create a level playing field for all business owners.
(The author is a lawyer at Allbright Law Firm. His e-mail: sbjmaguire39@yahoo.co.uk)
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