Individual Shanghai smokers to start getting fined

Photo by Kenmoo

It'll be a first for Shanghai. Current laws only fine the establishments that allowed smokers to light up in them, and the fines had a maximum amount set at a paltry 1000RMB. Under the new draft laws, individuals can be forced to pay up anywhere between 50RMB and 200RMB.

According to Shanghai Daily:

In addition to punishing individuals, the new law would raise fines for venue operators to 30,000 yuan.

The current ban covers places such as hospitals, schools, stores with more than 200 square meters of floor space and indoor stadiums.

The new law would prohibit smoking both indoors and outdoors around kindergartens, middle and primary schools, hospitals for children and pregnant women, orphanages and other public venues frequented by children and pregnant women.

Indoor smoking would be banned at all other schools, hospitals and public places such as cinemas, museums, banks, malls, airports, railway and bus terminals and many privately owned businesses.

Smoking would be allowed only in special areas in bars, restaurants, entertainment venues such as karaoke parlors and games arcades and the offices of state-owned enterprises.

It's all part of the effort to clear the air for the Shanghai Expo. In April the city announced the most recent phase of its anti-smoking campaign, and in May it began enforcing the bans seriously in at least one public place: the Hongqiao International Airport.

We're not smokers ourselves, so we're looking forward to anything that promises to let us come home from the bars not smelling like tobacco and death.