What China and SLO (May One Day) Have in Common
December 17th, 2006
We are soooo darn lucky in San Luis Obispo and in most of Cali that another person can’t blow smoke in your face in public establishments and public areas (at least the nicotine kind). Get ready for China, though, because that is not the case re: the smoking issue. However, the following posts and discussion threads from the China Law Blog (and here) show how things are a changing in China on this front.
January 7, 2007 Update: See this related January 3rd Wall Street Journal article, China Confronts Price of Its Cigarette Habit: An Economic Pillar, Tobacco Now Exacts Heavy Toll On Health. Per this article, China has more smokers — 350 million — than the US has people. Wow!
Entry Filed under: Pre-Departure, China, Misc.
2 Comments Add your own
1. Chuck Rylant | December 26th, 2006 at 4:09 pm
I love the California laws that allow me to visit places without breathing annoying smoke, however, I do not entirely agree with them. Even though I enjoy the restrictions, it does not seem appropriate for the government to limit the actions of a private business owner. I think business owners should be able to decide if they want a smoking or non-smoking establishment. Let supply and demand determine if business owners should restrict smoking.
Above is my view on private establishments such as restaurants and bars, but I feel differently about government facilities. I think smoking should be banned in government run facilities such as the public transportation and the DMV. The post on the China Law Blog says “Educational and medical institutions, and places offering services to children will be among the first places with smoking bans.” It seems like common sense to ban smoking in medical facilities and places with children, but maybe not in China. The post seems like China is heading in the right direction.
2. VIctoria Whelan | January 7th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
After reading this article I laughed because China has the most restrictions (that I am aware of) on the way the people live. I see how this is a good dream; however, I don’t feel it will be implemented. Even if it is, like the blog said, many people rebel.
I think every country should not allow smoking in educational and medicual institutions and anywhere near children because they should not start out with black lungs. I feel that because children are the targets of smoking campaigns, it might decrease the amount of people that smoke in the future. I hope that this part of the plan goes through with no rebellion.
I find it interesting that China has so many rules and regulations from the government and yet so many people rebel. I was reading an article that I recently posted about and it said that over 31 journalists were jailed last year for publishing about rebellion and non government backed issues.
China has a long way to go to equal the freedom we have here and the right we have to breathe clean air in public facilities but it is a start that an official is urging a change.
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