OBSERVATION: Smoking in high-density communities like Hong Kong results in predictable clashes between smokers and non-smokers.
SOLUTION: Could smoke-free zones be greatly expanded, along with advances in pollution control technologies to reduce the impact of second-hand smoke?
Societies around the world have grappled with preserving the rights of people wishing to smoke, while providing protection to non-smokers from second-hand smoke. The health hazards of smoking have been well documented, and the friction between smokers and non-smokers in a densely-populated city like Hong Kong often reaches a fevered pitch. It is estimated that only 10% of Hong Kong’s population currently smoke on a daily basis, and some have linked this relatively low percentage to Hong Kong’s relatively long life spans. Visitors to Hong Kong — especially from Mainland China where smoking levels are much higher — increase the overall number of smokers found in public areas throughout the city.
Within high-rise residential buildings, smokers have the freedom to puff away in their homes — sometimes adversely affecting upper floor residents directly above — while being restricted from smoking in the common areas of a particular housing estate. While Hong Kong society generally complies with the ban on smoking inside public buildings, the indoor smoking ban at the city’s restaurants and bars is regularly flouted — often due to a complete lack of enforcement and penalties — which exacerbates the conflicting needs of smokers and non-smokers in social situations.
The advent of “vaping” — the dire health consequences notwithstanding — has arguably reduced the amount of lingering second-hand smoke affecting nearby non-smokers; however, there remain frequent conflicts at Hong Kong’s more popular watering holes. For many, the desire to smoke while imbibing one’s favorite tipple is a hard habit to shake.
While Hong Kong’s Department of Health includes a dedicated Tobacco and Alcohol Control Office that seeks to discourage smoking, are there other strategies to improve the lives for all parties concerned?
Is there a solution for this age-old conundrum? Here are some ideas:
- Restrict smoking in urban areas to dedicated street-side smoking booths for 2-4 people that contain smokers’ secondhand smoke, which are equipped with interior finishes that use powerful nanotechnology to instantly attract and neutralize airborne pollutants, automatically filtering the air.
- Could there be designated smoking restaurants and bars with enhanced air filtration systems that are clearly labelled at the entry? Smokers could have a refuge, and non-smokers could simply choose to dine elsewhere.
- Codify the current Department of Health Tobacco and Alcohol Control Office guidelines into mandatory legislation.
- Encourage the use of innovative paints and architectural finishes that use nanotechnology to help attract and neutralize airborne pollutants throughout Hong Kong’s building industry.
- Could Hong Kong become an R&D center for new pollution-control nanotechnology building materials?
- Prohibit smoking of any kind within 6 m from all building entrances, and open-fronted bars and restaurants.
- Encourage the creation of completely smoke-free residential housing estates, that require private leases to include a smoking clause as a cause for early termination.
- Either ban or severely restrict the import certain tobacco products and e-cigarettes into Hong Kong from a public health standpoint.
- Restrict smoking of traditional tobacco cigarettes to wide-open spaces where second hand smoke will not affect nearby people.
- Provide more funding and resources to the Department of Health relative to legislation, enforcement, and smoking cessation services.