Wishful Thinking? China City Considers Smoking Ban
Wishful Thinking? China City Considers Smoking Ban: "China’s army of smokers can be seen puffing merrily away in restaurants, bars, schools, cabs, elevators and even—as one China Real Time reporter witnessed this morning–in hospital hallways. The habit is so widespread, the notion that China would ever follow places like California and New York in banning smoking barely seems to merit a second thought.
That hasn’t stopped health authorities in Nanchang from giving it a try.
Undaunted by the prospect of a collective nicotine fit, officials in Nanchang, a city about 800 kilometers southwest of Shanghai, are considering a sweeping law that would ban indoor smoking in all public places as well as restaurants, bars and offices, according to a report today from China’s state-run Xinhua news agency.
The law, which is expected to head for a vote on Friday, would be the toughest of its kind in China. Individuals who violate the ban will be fined 50 yuan and owners of establishments up to 5,000 yuan, Xinhua reports.
Public health officials say such measures are sorely needed because of the negative health consequences of second-hand smoke. But even if the law passes, enforcement remains a major question. According to Xinhua, the draft law a dozen government agencies that would be responsible for making sure the ban is carried out, including police and the municipal food and drug authority. Catching violators may be easier in public venues, such as on busses and trains, than in others, like hotels and mahjong houses, which are also included in the proposed law. Managers of restaurants, hotels and the like would be expected to help the government enforce the ban.
“It is very difficult, if not impossible,” Yang Liangyue, general manager of the Chundu Commercial Hotel told Xinhua. “How can I know if tenants are smoking in their rooms?”
A number of Chinese cities have smoking restrictions of varying scope, but they are often ignored.
In order for a smoking ban to really be effective in China, a doctor at Peking University First Hospital told China Real Time, citizens will need to genuinely buy in to the new regulations and pressure others to follow the law by speaking up or giving disapproving looks when they see people smoking where they shouldn’t.
Such societal change may be difficult. The majority of smokers in China don’t have any interest in quitting, a recent study showed. In 2008, the World Health Organization published a report (pdf) saying there was widespread support in China for a ban on smoking in schools, offices and hospitals, but support for banning smoking in restaurants and bars was mixed.
Local and global public health experts have long been worried about China’s high smoking rates. According to the 2008 World Health Organization report, more than half of all Chinese men are smokers and China’s 300 million smokers account for 30% of the world total.
Earlier this month the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced findings that nearly 1 in 10 Chinese children had smoked a cigarette in the previous month, reported China Daily. Some 20% had tried smoking for the first time by the age of seven, the paper said.
–Shirley S. Wang
- Reuters
- A man blows out cigarette smoke as he sits in a hutong, Chinese for small alley, in central Beijing Aug.18, 2010. In a country where 301 million people smoke, only 16 percent of current smokers are looking to quit in the coming year, and barely one in four adults believes smoking increases the risks of lung cancer, strokes and heart attacks.
That hasn’t stopped health authorities in Nanchang from giving it a try.
Undaunted by the prospect of a collective nicotine fit, officials in Nanchang, a city about 800 kilometers southwest of Shanghai, are considering a sweeping law that would ban indoor smoking in all public places as well as restaurants, bars and offices, according to a report today from China’s state-run Xinhua news agency.
The law, which is expected to head for a vote on Friday, would be the toughest of its kind in China. Individuals who violate the ban will be fined 50 yuan and owners of establishments up to 5,000 yuan, Xinhua reports.
Public health officials say such measures are sorely needed because of the negative health consequences of second-hand smoke. But even if the law passes, enforcement remains a major question. According to Xinhua, the draft law a dozen government agencies that would be responsible for making sure the ban is carried out, including police and the municipal food and drug authority. Catching violators may be easier in public venues, such as on busses and trains, than in others, like hotels and mahjong houses, which are also included in the proposed law. Managers of restaurants, hotels and the like would be expected to help the government enforce the ban.
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“It is very difficult, if not impossible,” Yang Liangyue, general manager of the Chundu Commercial Hotel told Xinhua. “How can I know if tenants are smoking in their rooms?”
A number of Chinese cities have smoking restrictions of varying scope, but they are often ignored.
In order for a smoking ban to really be effective in China, a doctor at Peking University First Hospital told China Real Time, citizens will need to genuinely buy in to the new regulations and pressure others to follow the law by speaking up or giving disapproving looks when they see people smoking where they shouldn’t.
Such societal change may be difficult. The majority of smokers in China don’t have any interest in quitting, a recent study showed. In 2008, the World Health Organization published a report (pdf) saying there was widespread support in China for a ban on smoking in schools, offices and hospitals, but support for banning smoking in restaurants and bars was mixed.
Local and global public health experts have long been worried about China’s high smoking rates. According to the 2008 World Health Organization report, more than half of all Chinese men are smokers and China’s 300 million smokers account for 30% of the world total.
Earlier this month the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced findings that nearly 1 in 10 Chinese children had smoked a cigarette in the previous month, reported China Daily. Some 20% had tried smoking for the first time by the age of seven, the paper said.
–Shirley S. Wang
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