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在线翻译:
szdaily -> Opinion -> 
Anti-smoking laws ineffective
    2015-05-25  08:53    Shenzhen Daily

    Chris Edwards

    2045038940@qq.com

    DURING this year’s May Day holiday, I traveled to Guangzhou with my girlfriend. After a long trip on the Metro to get to the train station, I was desperate to use the bathroom. When I walked into the bathroom, though, I was assaulted by the stench of tobacco and nicotine. At least five people were openly smoking cigarettes there, despite the numerous no-smoking signs stating fines of between 50 yuan (US$8) and 500 yuan for offenders.

    Unfortunately, my Mandarin is not good enough to do anything about it, so I had to hold my bladder until I was on the train.

    The enforcement of anti-smoking laws in Shenzhen, and around China as a whole, is incredibly lax. People will openly light up a cigarette without thinking about the consequences.

    In my office right now, I can see a no-smoking sign, yet on two occasions, another teacher has lit up a cigarette. It was only when I complained about it that he started going outside to smoke. I know he still smokes in the office when I am not there, though, because if I drop by at night or on the weekend when he is here, he will quickly make himself scarce to finish his cigarette.

    I was in my girlfriend’s hometown in central Hunan during Chinese New Year, and the amount of smoking in her parent’s home was astounding to me. We went to a restaurant where there were no-smoking signs, but people were still smoking there.

    Clearly, there is no appetite for change in China and I am coming from a Western standpoint. To give readers an understanding of what it is like in my country, smoking is banned in all government buildings, public transport, airports and flights, vehicles with children in them, and enclosed public spaces (such as workplaces and restaurants). Tobacco products cannot be sold to anyone under the age of 18.

    In my home province of Western Australia, smoking is also banned from all indoor areas of pubs, bars and nightclubs; outdoor eating areas; within 10 meters of a children’s playground; or in a patrolled area of a beach in a patrolled swimming area. In fact, the only indoor places you are allowed to smoke are your own home and the high roller room of the only casino in my home state. Fines for smoking in prohibited areas start at AU$200 (US$156) and courts can issue fines as high as AU$20,000, depending on the egregiousness of the crime.

    

    There are some very simple ways to reduce the rates of smoking in China. I do completely accept that tobacco makes up between 7 and 10 percent of China’s tax revenue, but the health costs will be much higher in the future — the more people take up smoking, the more they will drain the country’s health care system later.

    These are my suggestions for improving the enforcement of smoking bans.

    1. Give police officers a higher salary — if you pay them more, they are less likely to accept a bribe.

    2. Increase the fines — fines of 50-500 yuan are not sufficient to scare somebody away from doing something when a packet of cigarettes is so cheap. The fines need to hit people’s wallets a lot harder — 500-5,000 yuan fines, with the courts being able to increase the fine if necessary.

    3. Fines for those selling cigarettes to the underaged starting at about 25,000 yuan.

    (The author is an Australian English teacher in Bao’an District.)

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