Smoking in such public places as kindergartens, hospitals, restaurants, schools, cinemas, concert halls and even in taxis will be banned in Beijing on May 1, according to regulations adopted by a municipal government meeting on Thursday.

Though this comes as good news to those who suffer from secondhand smoke, it is not likely that the ban will be strictly enforced immediately after it takes effect.

The idea of banning smoking has long been a matter of discussion and debate. Even the consensus that secondhand smoke does great harm to the health of non-smokers was not enough to usher in a ban, simply because enforcement is too difficult. It is also because places like restaurants are strongly opposed to the ban, which, they believe, will cut into their customer base, especially if they are forced to aggressively enforce it.

So what is of great concern is not the ban, which almost all non-smokers and many smokers support. Questions such as how the ban will be imposed and whether it will be effectively implemented have become the chief matters for members of the public and municipal government officials.

The regulations place the onus on public venues to enforce the ban, rather than on smokers to observe it. That means that the public venues are responsible for persuading smokers not to smoke or for providing a separate space for smokers to relieve themselves of their addiction.

This places some locations in a difficult position. It will be quite natural for a restaurant to worry that some smokers might be offended if a staff member asks them to put out their cigarettes. And it will undoubtedly increase the operating costs of some businesses to set up separate areas for smokers.

The other pressing question is how government law-enforcement bodies will know whether a place is strictly observing the regulations. It would be impossible to post supervisors at every location where smoking is banned, and regular public inspections would be difficult to carry out.

So it will take a long time before the ban will be able to effectively stop smoking in public places. The move is considered a great success if the ban is able to make smokers more aware that it is an offence to smoke in public. Perhaps they will hesitate to light their cigarettes there.

(China Daily April 12, 2008)