A lawmaker in Beijing has called on authorities to make laws to
strictly restrict smoking scenes in movies and teleplays to create
a better environment for the health and growth of young people.
Currently, many smoking scenes can be seen in movies and
teleplays. The police chief and detectives always light a cigarette
when they come across thorny problems, said Gu Jin, at the annual
meeting of the local legislature, the Beijing Municipal People's
Congress, on Tuesday.
"Smoking stands for manhood in the eyes of most young boys, and
such an understanding will inevitably exert a bad influence on
their growth," Gu, a doctor of the Beijing Cancer Hospital, was
quoted by the Beijing Evening News on Wednesday.
Gu also advised movie and teleplay producers against including
smoking images in posters or other means of promotion.
The State Tobacco Monopoly Administration estimates that China
has more than 350 million smokers, about 26 percent of the
country's total population and a third of the world's smoking
population. Each year, about 700,000 die from smoking-related
diseases.
Gu also called for a smoking ban in public places, especially in
schools, hospitals, kindergartens, theatres and stadiums, to
support holding a "Green Olympics" in 2008.
To restaurants, cafes and other entertainment venues, he
proposed setting up a smoking-free area first and then imposing a
complete smoking ban gradually.
On Tuesday, Beijing's Disease Prevention and Control Center
started a smoking ban drive, urging the city's 40,000 restaurants
to "take an active move" and voluntarily ban smoking.
Currently, about 27 percent Beijingers smoke while the remainder
are passive smokers from breathing in second-hand smoke, said Feng
Ailan, a health expert with the center.
During the busy dinner hour, the air in many small and
medium-size restaurants in Beijing is often blue with cigarette
smoke.
(Xinhua News Agency February 1, 2007)