Reports according to Master's order and rating

The Air on the Planet
will be Fresher than Ever

By the Florida News Group, USA (Originally in English)

Tobacco is the second major cause of death in the world today, and half of those who now use tobacco will eventually be killed by it. For more than fifty years, physicians have been well aware of the deadly consequence of using tobacco, but its addictive power over humankind has been so strong that governments have been unable to pass laws to control it. In the last several years, however, the tide has begun to turn as people around the world have begun to stand up against the tobacco companies and laws have been passed to ban smoking outright.

For example, on February 27, 2005, the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) treaty,
the first international measure to take on the tobacco industry, went into effect. As of this writing 124 countries have ratified the agreement, making it one of the most quickly adopted treaties in history. The signatory nations must ban all tobacco advertising and pass anti-smoking laws within five years.

Anti-smoking efforts in Asia

The FCTC treaty came about amid a sudden upsurge in smoking bans around the globe, including that of the tiny Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan, which in 2004 became the first country to completely outlaw the sale of tobacco. And across the border in India, a total ban on tobacco advertising went into effect. To the north, China has had a ban on public smoking since 1996.However, the prohibition was not enforced, and thus over the last decade Chinese smoking rates have increased. China is by far the largest consumer of tobacco so it was a historic moment when China signed the FCTC treaty in 2005. In contrast to its 1996 smoking ban, the government of China is now planning true, enforceable sanctions on tobacco use.

Also, Singapore, where smoking bans are backed up by stiff fines, is strongly determined to follow Bhutan’s example and become a smoke-free nation. There smoking in public brings a US$600 fine, while selling to minors brings a US$6000 fine.

Some of the most epochal changes with regard to limiting smoking are occurring in the Middle East, where tobacco is deeply ingrained in Islamic culture. For instance, Iran and Syria have recently passed comprehensive anti-smoking laws. Of far greater importance than laws are fatwas, or legal opinions by Muslim clerics, which are more readily enforced. The key issue to Muslims is whether smoking is simply bad or it is haram—prohibited by Islam. And a growing number of scholars throughout the Muslim world are pronouncing tobacco haram, which has led to proposals of new legislation by government leaders. Thus almost every Muslim country is now proposing bans on smoking. In fact, in March 2006, Jakarta, Indonesia, which has one of the highest smoking rates in the world, passed a limited prohibition on smoking.

Banning tobacco in Europe

Much of the initiative behind the UN anti-smoking campaign comes from Europe. In July, 2005, the European Union passed a directive requiring all EU countries to ban tobacco ads in all publications, on radio and on the internet. Several EU nations have gone much farther and passed outright bans on public smoking. Ireland, land of pubs, was the first country in the world to have a national smoking ban in all enclosed spaces, including pubs. If you smoke, you pay a fine of US$3600, and this high penalty has led to near-universal compliance.

Since Ireland’s action, laws prohibiting smoking has swept across Europe as Norway, Sweden, Italy, Spain, the UK and Russia ( for each country) have all enacted public bans with stiff fines. After a year, Italy’s anti-smoking law has led to a massive decrease in cigarette purchases and half a million people quitting. And although smoking is deeply entrenched in the Spanish lifestyle, a surprising 70% of the population supported that country’s ban. The newest prohibition on smoking, which was passionately debated in Parliament and came as a great surprise when the members voted on the strictest possible measure, occurred in the UK in mid-February 2006. When the ban goes into effect next year, allowing people to smoke in any public buildings including pubs and clubs, will bring US$4000 fines.

Germany has also launched an innovative annual smoking campaign, in which smokers are paid up to US$12,000 for remaining smoke-free for four weeks. The cash rewards are given to a random selection of quitters who register and submit to testing. A total of 90,000 smokers registered in 2004, and one in three has managed to live without smoking.

Uprooting tobacco in America

Cuba, which produces almost the entire world’s supply of cigars, enacted a public smoking ban on February 2005. Similarly, all across Latin America, governments are poised to enact sweeping anti-smoking laws and on March 1, 2006, Uruguay became the first South American country to sign the FCTC treaty.

The fiercest battle over tobacco has occurred in the US, home of the global tobacco industry. Thousands of lawsuits have been filed on behalf of sick smokers, employees in smoky buildings and their health care providers against enormous tobacco mega-corporations. In 1998, US tobacco companies lost the largest lawsuit in history, which included a US$200 billion dollar settlement. That suit was filed on behalf of state governments, and an even bigger case is now being fought by the US federal government. US tobacco lawsuits have gradually brought to light all the evil marketing techniques by which tobacco companies have brought about the addiction and gradual death of large portions of the world’s population.

Although the US has yet to pass a national smoking ban, twelve states and hundreds of cities now prohibit smoking in all public spaces. The Californian city of San Luis Obispo was the first city in the world to enact such a law, in 1990. Since then, twelve states (for each state) have followed suit, in addition to the territory of Puerto Rico in March 2006. In Florida, citizens managed to put such a bill to a statewide vote in 2002, and it was entered directly into the State’s Constitution. Although the ban excluded nightclubs, the Florida campaignresulted in a 50% drop in middle-school smokers and a 35% drop in high school smokers.

The most influential smoking ban occurred in 2003 in New York City, the financial capital of the world and home of the United Nations headquarters. Although the prohibition was immensely popular, lawmakers engaged in a heated debate over its financial consequences. Would people stop going out to restaurants? Would the loss of cigarette taxes hurt other government programs? But after one year, studies found that the measure had a tremendously positive impact on business. Restaurant employment increased, taxes from restaurants jumped 8.7% and remarkably, compliance was 100% and popular support was nearly universal. Similar studies on the recent smoking bans in Europe have also found that they are a win/win proposition. These studies are separate from those on the savings to national health programs, which have accumulated in the US and other countries for decades. With this sort of hard economic data, it’s only a matter of time before humankind is liberated entirely from the curse of tobacco.