The New Straits Times, May 31, 1999
TODAY is World No Tobacco Day. Given the very dominant tobacco industry presence in our society and the reportedly increasing number of youths smoking, it is time to take a serious look at all available approaches to make tobacco cessation a reality among as many smokers as possible.
One way is of course to make it difficult to anyone (not only under 18 years) to light up a cigarette. This has been effectively carried out by gazetting new no-smoking places and extending the current smoke-free areas throughout the country.
In February, the Ministry of Health was cited as wanting to declare all air-conditioned eateries no-smoking zones. This is indeed a laudable approach and received a lot of support.
Since then, however, little was heard about this, especially when opposition was raised by restaurants owners allegedly due to "economic reasons".
The link between eateries and tobacco is an obvious one. Already, many restaurants are being "supported" by the tobacco industry, judging from the number of advertisements found in the outlets.
They range from simple glossy posters depicting cigarette brands to clocks, mirrors and even entire cashier counter.
Such an economic relationship would invariably be a major obstacle in the implementation of a more progressive anti-smoking campaign.
While there may be merits in the claims that restaurants will suffer losses, it may not be due to the initiatives to curb smoking there.
Early this year, for example, a group of academic researchers released findings suggesting that a total ban on smoking in restaurants in New York City has not hurt businesses.
The study reported that the anti-smoking law "has had no effect on the local sales, job growth or income".
The studies supported by the Substance Abuse Policy Research Programme actually showed that industry jobs in restaurants rose 18 per cent to more than 19,000 during the study period.
This is contrary to claims by restaurants owners that such prohibition is bad for business. The studies too negated earlier findings from smaller studies financed by the tobacco industry.
Similarly, despite claims that smoke-free restaurants discourage tourism, an even more recent study in the latest issue of the Journal of American Medical Association (May 26 issue) shows that cities and states in the United States that barred smoking in restaurants experienced no drop in hotel visitors.
In fact, in some cases, they registered increases after the ban went into effect.
The study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, also reports that since smoke-free laws came into effect, international tourism in California experienced an increase in tourists from Japan. New York City logged a similar increase in European visitors.
Malaysia, which prides itself as an excellent tourist destination, can take heart and learn from these very useful experiences.
It is hoped that the Minister of Health would once again aggressively pursue his plan to institute a total ban on smoking in eateries, as announced earlier.
During last year's World No Tobacco Day, the then Deputy Minister of Health pledged to disallow tobacco sponsored advertisements in the media.
A year later, nothing significant has changed, and the Ministry has yet to make good its intention of removing all indirect advertisements.
