Update: The day after this story broke, it was announced that the policy had been reversed (Reuters), following a public outcry.
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The government in Gong’an county, China, has ordered local officials (civil servants and even teachers) to smoke 230,000 packs of cigarettes a year. This is an attempt to raise tax revenues, as the cigarettes have to be of the local, Hubei, brand. Those who do not smoke enough, or who smoke other brands, face a fine – or even the sack.
The officials who have instated the rule seem to have been entirely unconcerned with the huge toll that tobacco use takes in China (a million deaths a year from smoking-related diseases), and the decision also flies in the face of recent attempts by national authorities to encourage smokers to give up, including strictures against smoking in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics. According to Chen Nianzu, a member of the cigarette market supervision team, ‘The regulation will boost the local economy via the cigarette tax’, and will improve sales of the local brands, which have been facing competition from cigarettes from Hunan province.
Provincial leaders have ordered a review of the new policy – but even if the policy is reversed, the fact that it was ever instated is testament to just how far there is to go in raising awareness of the dangers – and costs – of smoking.
Source: BBC News online, 5 May 2009.