China works to ban smoking

There is a new movement in China to try to ban smoking in public places. This proposal is a part of the new set of health regulations that government officials in China hope to implement for a healthier population and better working and living conditions for all. There was previously a law in place from 1991 that covered smoking restrictions but it has been ill enforced and isn’t working very well to curb people’s bad habits.

China, a country with the most smokers in the world, may be taking a step toward addiction-free living as soon as May 1^st. The reason that such laws have not already been approved has been due to the strong resistance of the wealthy tobacco companies and the already addicted population. The guidelines suggested seem to be very reasonable and will put China on the path to a healthier public environment, since the proposal targets public places specifically. Not only will smoking be banned in indoor places if this becomes a law but it also seeks to increase health management regulations in public places in other ways as well.

The World Health Organization plays some part in this and supports China’s step forward although it does note some flaws in the new proposal. Dr. Sarah England, head of the World Health Organization's Tobacco Free Initiative in China, takes issue not with the steps forward but with the definition of public places’ exclusion of government offices and other workplaces. However, there are other problems with this new set of regulations as well. With about 30% of the population of China smoking, enforcement of these rules will likely be a huge issue.

These new guidelines will extend non-smoking areas to hotels, restaurants, cafes, bars, hair and beauty salons in addition to some other places. They also call for signs to be put up and for part of the staff of places considered to be public to try and persuade employees to give up smoking. The question is, should these new rules be put into law and will they do any good?