Tobacco control a tough task

Other Views

Rules must not go up in smoke

Past tobacco-control experiences in China indicate a well-made rule will only become beautiful empty talk if it is not effectively implemented. The government should, first of all, get rid of its dependence on the revenue from the State-owned tobacco industry. And the government must not spend public money buying cigarettes for officials. Only after the authority takes seriously its responsibility as a tobacco controller will the ban on smoking in public places be upheld in society.

Dahe Daily, Nov 25

Many local tobacco-control rules have become "paper tigers", because most of them were written in vague terms. In these failed rules, the setting of rights and relevant obligations does not fit China's current practical national conditions, and the legislation is blurred when it comes to the implementation and the consequences of violating the regulations. The first national tobacco control rule should solve these problems.

Yangcheng Evening News, Nov 25

Reforming the State-owned tobacco industry is the first step necessary to control tobacco use in China. Raise tobacco prices, prevent youths from using tobacco and more tobacco-control publicity are all effective ways to reduce tobacco use in China.

Yang Gonghuan, professor of public health and epidemic studies with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Nov 25

There should be a harsh accountability system to ensure the first national tobacco-control regulations are implemented word for word. International experience shows, as important supporting measures, the government should offer services and assistance for smokers to help them quit smoking, and use intensive publicity to raise the public's awareness of tobacco control so as to form a social consensus that smoking in public places harms other people's health.

Beijing Times, Nov 25

The rules and laws are not made to punish the violators, but to prevent people from starting the habit and warn them of the dangers it poses to others. The tobacco-control endeavor is not a fight between smokers and non-smokers, but a public health campaign in which every member of the society is struggling for the same purpose: protecting the public's health. Smokers are beneficiaries of it, not enemies.

Guangming Daily, Nov 25