Beijing smokebusters to go on patrol

Making and selling cigarettes are crimes against humanity because of the lethal impact of smoke on innocent bystanders, including children. When governments make and sell cigarettes, it's a double betrayal. According to the WHO, smoking kills around a million Chinese every year, and the number is expected to reach 3 million by 2050. That's a lot of painful, lingering and extremely expensive deaths. Beijing's new regulations are a small, slow and halfhearted step in the right direction.

All the countries should just shut down production and trafficking. Instead of permitting people to get hooked so governments can benefit from the tax revenue.

Think I noticed a cigarette ad in Time magazine the other day. Kind of difficult to question a large source of revenue.

And hasn't been that long since the no-smoking laws in various countries were put in place, I think.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoking_ban#History

In my opinion, the most effective way to reduce smoking is just to make it costly, coupled with education (especially towards children aged 8 and up). People will WANT to quit smoking on their own which will in turn lead to less smoking in public areas, etc.

Who you gonna call? Smokebusters! Having lived in China, I know firsthand that smoking is their national past time. Individual smokers will be fined 200 yuan? That's about 3000 yen. May as well try to ban marjon. Bottom line, people who want to smoke will do so anyway.

The problem is not cigarettes, but rather the garbage the companies lace their tobacco with.

Also, rather than go with a fascist ban, establishments could be required to install air cleaning systems, such as ashtrays that suck the smoke out of the room.

Banning smoking for health reasons in a city with as much air pollution as Beijing strikes me as a bit asinine...

Still, it's a step in the right direction, I suppose...

lolozo79: "Bottom line, people who want to smoke will do so anyway."

Actually, everyone has her own boundaries… if the cost of cigarettes will be too high, some people will stop buying them, simply because they can’t or because they don’t think it’s worth it. I want to eat ice cream, but I won’t pay $200 for a scoop…

@Livingmemory

Also, rather than go with a fascist ban...

What's fascism got to do with it? The operative phrase right at the start of the article is "indoor public places." It's a public safety measure to prevent nicotine junkies from harming those around them. They can still get their fix in other places. This is a small step toward restoring the freedom of those who want to breathe clean air and stay healthy. Do you also call China's moves toward tougher vehicle emission standards fascist?

The tobacco industry latched onto the spurious liberty versus fascism/nanny state line decades ago as a way of deflecting attention from growing evidence about smoking and cancer, etc. I'm surprised anyone is still taken in by this transparent lie.

Let's hope Tokyo catches up to Beijing in the near future. Japan, Cambodia and North Korea still trail behind more advanced Asian countries in this area.

Let's hope Tokyo catches up to Beijing in the near future.

You must not have been to Beijing, as Tokyo is way ahead of it when it comes to smoking regulation.

That brown air is coming from industrial pollution like the world has never seen. the chinese government denies this and refuses to take responibilaty,much less action! As for smoking they'll have to re- open the "Education Camps" to stop it.