No-smoking rules ‘not being implemented’
Print Edition
LOCAL authorities have failed to ensure the proper implementation of a ban on smoking in public places, a survey conducted by the Shanghai Statistics Bureau has claimed.
In the poll of 2,000 people, 75 percent said they were dissatisfied with the way in which new smoking restrictions, introduced in 2010, have been enforced.
Most respondents said the government was at fault for failing to ensure venues adhered to the ban.
Others attributed the problem to the public’s lack of understanding of the dangers of smoking and the ease with which cigarettes can be purchased, the survey said.
Under current legislation, it is illegal to smoke in 13 types of indoor spaces, including primary schools, kindergartens and maternity hospitals.
In restaurants with 75 or more seats, smoking and non-smoking areas must be clearly defined.
About 95 percent of the people surveyed said they supported changes to the law that would make smoking illegal in all indoor public venues.
Tang Qiong, vice director of the Shanghai Health Enhance Commission Office, which is responsible for the enforcement of the no-smoking rules, said the legislation is effectively toothless.
“Officials are told only to warn people who break the rules, but not punish them for a first offense,” she said.
“We have already discussed changing this clause to ensure violators are properly penalized,” she said.
“We are also pushing for a complete ban on smoking in all indoor public venues and workplaces, which should go before lawmakers sometime next year,” she said.
In the meantime, Tang said she will seek to increase supervision of venues known to regularly flout the law.
Business owners who allow smoking in restricted areas can be fined up to 30,000 yuan (US$4,800), while the smokers themselves can be fined up to 200 yuan.
Tang did not say how many people had been issued with such penalties since the law was amended.
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