China’s Butt Ban Bites the Bullet

Anti-smoking legislation folds under pressure from businesses.

A few short weeks after it was announced, Beijing’s ambitious attempt to ban public smoking has already been crushed underfoot like a lifeless Hongtashan butt. While government offices, schools, and hospitals will supposedly be smoke-free zones from next month onwards, bars, cafes and restaurants will still allow patrons to light up in much the same way as before. The nation’s number one addiction proved too strong, even for the pre-Olympic new broom.

With over 350 million smokers China is legendary for its nicotine addiction, and numbers increasing by more than 3 million a year. There are 50 million teenaged smokers alone. The number of non-smokers in China affected by passive smoking was 540 million as of 2007, one-third of whom were under 18 years old. What these numbers mean is that about two-thirds of the Chinese population either smokes or is affected by those who do. More than one million Chinese die of smoking-related illnesses ever year – this number could reach 3 million by 2050.

Although a few Beijing coffee shops have introduced no smoking zones, these usually consist of a few tables in a dark alcove where the waitress ventures once every twenty minutes. It clearly makes more business sense to keep the 70% of Chinese men who smoke happy, rather than cater to the needs and desires of the health conscious. Although next month’s watered down ban may go some way to cutting the numbers of Chinese smokers, it would be naive to expect any kind of major impact. With the cigarette now as firmly rooted in Chinese culture as rice or the mobile phone, it seems the best Beijing can hope for is a little more segregation from enlightened café owners.

China will survey smoking habits among key sectors, including doctors and teachers, in 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities this year as it works to establish a national network of anti-smoking clinics. The survey, whose parameters are yet to be determined, will study whether people know of the risks of smoking and how to stop, according to the Department of Maternal and Child Health Care and Community Health of China’s Ministry of Health.

Those Chinese who do want to kick that habit may get help from China’s Golden Dragon Group, which last year introduced the first ever electronic cigarette. The eCig (image above) is a battery powered, cigarette-shaped device that “delivers nicotine to inhalers in a bid to emulate actual smoking.” It even emits vapor, so in many ways the whole experience is like smoking an actual cigarette.Users of the “eCig” still get their daily dose of nicotine, but without any of the carcinogenic tar and health-threatening side effects.

Image source: Daniel Allen and Reuters

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