Beijing smoking ban goes into effect

Source: Associated Press

BEIJING - Beijing's battle to ban smoking in most public areas began in earnest Thursday as part of the government's commitment to hold a smoke-free Olympics.

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The measures, which took effect May 1, completely ban smoking in schools, hospitals and government offices, as well as at all Olympic venues including indoor and outdoor stadiums. Hotels, restaurants and bars face a partial ban, with smoking and no-smoking areas required.

China has an estimated 350 million smokers — a quarter of the country's population and nearly a third of the total number of smokers in the world.

According to Ministry of Health figures, about 1 million people die each year from smoking-related diseases in China.

Beijing's city government began smoking restrictions in 1995 but expanded them this year to additional public areas, including fitness centers, cultural sites and government offices.

More problematic will be enforcement of the rules. Individual violators will be fined only $1.40 while enterprises and institutions that violate the ban face fines of $142 to $714.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080501/ap_on_sp_ol/oly_beijing_smoking_ban_1

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See, even they weren't stupid enough to ban smoking in bars!

I took the other one out as a dupe. :hi:

:hide: If you want to repost, I can just delete this one. :hi:

but not in My DU. Bah. I'll post it again.

Delete away!!