Chris Edwards

    2045038940@qq.com

    FOLLOWING my own article on this subject on May 25 and Shenzhen Daily’s own investigation, published May 29, it is clear that enforcement of smoking laws is not going to happen without a substantial change in approach.

    Since my article, Beijing has announced the toughest anti-smoking measures yet, banning smoking in public indoor places as well as tobacco advertisements effective June 1. In addition, smoking in all workplaces and schools is banned. Tobacco cannot be sold within 100 meters of a kindergarten, primary school, middle school or children’s activity center. No new certificates for tobacco sales will be issued for retailers within these 100-meter arcs, and those retailers that currently possess them will not be able to get new ones once they expire. Beijing’s airport will close its indoor smoking rooms and open 11 outdoor smoking areas.

    Fines were issued as early as June 2, which is a positive sign, but the real question is will they continue to be issued? It was admitted by the Beijing Health Inspection Bureau that they could only select key places to inspect and hope that more people will follow the regulation voluntarily.

    Let’s be honest, that is never going to happen.

    But what if a different approach was taken? What if cigarettes were more expensive and the effects of cigarettes on one’s health were made clear to consumers? In Australia, a packet of 20 cigarettes costs more than 100 yuan (US$16), with taxes taking up more than 62 percent of the final cost of the packet. In addition, the packets are required, by law, to be a dark olive color with disturbing images of lungs, eyes, feet, mouths and unborn babies all damaged or ruined by smoking. The packages are also festooned with warnings about the impacts of smoking on your body and the people around you. No bright colors, sexy models or fun cartoon characters are present to differentiate brands or draw consumers — especially children — to smoking.

    Clearly, tobacco companies hate the drab, disturbing packaging. Australia is still fighting big tobacco companies through international tribunals and treaties, one in particular based out of Hong Kong from 1993. The result of that case is expected by February 2016, but Australia’s original success has resulted in other countries adopting their own anti-smoking packaging laws.

    So why try this here in China? One of the problems facing China’s anti-smoking efforts is that many Chinese people do not believe that smoking is harmful to them. Pictures of just how dangerous smoking can be to a person’s body could dissuade young people from taking up smoking as well as encourage people to quit smoking. Evidence in Australia suggests that the rate of people willing to quit smoking jumped from 20 to 27 percent in the months following the introduction of the packaging with the disturbing images.

    Disturbing packaging and tax increases — the hip pocket and medical solution to reducing smoking in China.

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