Cigar Weekly

YES Clearing the haze out of the environment is certainly a noble pursuit, but equally important to us city-dwellers is clearing the noxious haze from where we eat, play, and gather as families. Banning smoking inside indoor medical facilities is a huge step in the right direction. When I'm in hospital trying to get better the last thing I want is to be getting worse from second-hand smoke, which causes lung cancer and kills an average of 3,000 people every year.

The ban of smoking in bars is something that I have less of a problem with, however, if I have the choice of going to a smoking bar or a non-smoking bar I'll chose the non-smoking. I prefer to choose my own drink when I want it, not to inhale someone else's toxic cocktail when they want it. I have a different attitude towards restaurants. In a more public, family oriented place like a restaurant, I see no reason why I should have to sit there and have someone else's deadly habit pushed on me and my family.

Notwithstanding health issues, I find that cigarette and especially cigar smoke often ruins the taste of my food. In a city of more than 15 million people there are an estimated 4 million smokers. I'll do the subtraction for you: when those 4 million are banned from smoking in public places, 11 million people will benefit. The sheer numbers show that, even on just a health standpoint, non-smokers will gain more from this ban.

trevnicols@gmail.com NO I have smoked for years and foresee the ban will have very little long-term effect on a smoker's way of life. Because the ban will only affect public places, I think it will leave its biggest impression in the workplace. Now instead of taking 10 steps to smoke indoors, people will have to take 20. Sure, it might be a pain, but the extra effort might cause a smoker to have a few less cigarettes, which most doctors will say is a good thing. I moved to Beijing from a city that had enacted a strict smoking ban. There you couldn't smoke in the bars, restaurants or any public place. Many of the same fears now being voiced by Beijingers were heard before the ban, but afterwards life went on without a problem. People still flocked to bars. Those that smoked were simply asked to step outside. While some smokers grumbled about it, most just got over it, and some of the smokers even appreciated it. Personally, I didn't mind it.

But really, how big of an effect can the ban have, other than giving China some good P.R before the Olympics? With Beijing allowing restaurants and bars to maintain their 'smoking' status, the biggest impact of the ban will be for those who choose not to follow the rules. Even then, after a couple thousand RMB worth of fines, those that don't follow the rules will realize they have no other option but to get over it. balaz2ta@gmail.com