Smoking in Singapore is subjected to restrictions enacted through various legislations such as the Smoking (Prohibition in Certain Places) Act, which was first enacted in 1970.
Smoking in Singapore is subjected to restrictions enacted through various legislations such as the Smoking (Prohibition in Certain Places) Act, which was first enacted in 1970.
In the 2017 national health population survey conducted by the Ministry of Health and Health Promotion Board, it was found that 12% of the population surveyed, aged between 18 and 69, were daily smokers, drop from 18.3% in 1992. [1]
Smoking prevalence among students in secondary schools, polytechnics, and Institute of Technical Education dropped from 8% (survey period: 2011-13) to 4% (survey period: 2014-16). Among Singapore residents aged 18-29 years, 9.9% surveyed in 2017 smoked, a decline from 17.2% in 2007. The average age of smokers who started smoking daily was 18 years old in 2017. [2]
Smoking was first banned in buses, cinemas and theaters in September 1970, [3] and it was extended to indoor locations where it is frequented by most people on August 1977. After the King's Cross fire in 1987, smoking was banned in the Singapore MRT. [3]
On 1 July 2005, the ban was extended to bus interchanges and shelters, public toilets and public swimming complexes whereas from 1 July 2006, the ban was extended to coffee shops and hawker centres.
On 1 July 2007, the ban was extended to entertainment nightspots, including pubs, bars, lounges, dance clubs, and night clubs. [4] The owner of the premises is legally responsible for the non-smoking of the customers. [4] The law allows for the construction of designated smoking rooms which can take up to 10% of the total indoor space, or outdoor smoking areas that do not exceed 20% of the outdoor refreshment area. [4]
On 1 January 2009, the ban was extended to all children's playgrounds, exercise areas, markets, underground and multi-story car parks, ferry terminals and jetties. It was also extended to non-air-conditioned areas in offices, factories, shops, shopping complexes and lift lobbies, [5] and within 5 metres (16 ft) of entrances and exits. [6]
On 22 November 2010, citizens of Singapore supported the Towards Tobacco-Free Singapore online campaign. The campaign promotes a proposal (which was published in the British medical journal Tobacco Control) to prevent the supply of tobacco to Singaporeans born from the year 2000 which would result in a gradual phasing-out of tobacco in Singapore. The launch was put forward by a team consisting of a lung cancer surgeon, medical officers, a university professor and a civil servant. [7]
On 15 January 2013, the ban was extended to all common areas of the residential block including link ways from bus stops to residential blocks, void decks, corridors, stairwells, stairways and multi-purpose halls, in addition to covered walkways and link ways, all pedestrian overhead bridges, 5 m from the bus stops and hospital outdoor compounds. However, the residential block smoking ban was not mandatory as there are more people smoking except when during wakes or funerals. [8]
On 1 June 2016, the ban was extended to reservoirs, as well as parks managed by JTC, town councils, and NParks. The ban also includes SAF and MHA camps, where smoking is already banned. [9]
From 30 June 2017, food & beverage outlets are no longer allowed new smoking corners. [10]
On 1 October 2017, the ban was extended to autonomous universities' compounds, private hire vehicles, private education institutes, within 5m of all educational institutions, excursion buses and trishaws. [11]
On 1 January 2019, smoking was banned along the Orchard Road shopping district. Smokers can only light up within designated smoking areas in the precinct. Smoking corners in eateries within the precinct were also removed. [12]
Smokers found flouting the rules are fined a minimum 200 Singapore dollars [13] up to a maximum of S$1000 if convicted in court, [13] while the managers of the establishments are fined S$200 for a first offence, and S$500 for a subsequent offence. [4] Singapore is famous for being clean, with enforced penalties for littering; [14] cigarette butt littering is one of the greatest high-rise littering problems. [15]
Staff working for certain government sectors, such as the National Recycling Program, are not allowed to smoke while carrying out their duties. [16]
In 2018, it was reported by MPs that they received many complaints from their residents about second-hand smoke entering their homes from neighbouring units. [17]
This became a serious issue during the circult breaker lockdown in 2020, which forced many people to spend much longer at home. At the same time, smokers were not allowed to leave their homes just to smoke, as it was not considered an essential purpose. It was reported that the National Environment Agency (NEA) received 11,400 complaints related to smoking in April 2020 or 2,000 cases more than the same period of 2019. [18]
In October 2020, Louis Ng a Member of Parliament called for a ban on residents smoking near windows or at the balconies of HDB flats and private apartments arguing that second hand smoke is a “public health concern”, while at the same time noting that some 383 people in Singapore had died from second hand smoke. [19] [20]
Despite evidence that second-hand smoke can cause stroke, heart disease and lung cancer in adults, as well as various conditions, leading up to and including death, in children, the Singapore government chose to reject the proposed ban. [21]
A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhaled via the opposite end. Cigarette smoking is the most common method of tobacco consumption. The term cigarette, as commonly used, refers to a tobacco cigarette, but the word is sometimes used to refer to other substances, such as a cannabis cigarette or a herbal cigarette. A cigarette is distinguished from a cigar by its usually smaller size, use of processed leaf, and paper wrapping, which is typically white.
Smoking bans, or smoke-free laws, are public policies, including criminal laws and occupational safety and health regulations, that prohibit tobacco smoking in certain spaces. The spaces most commonly affected by smoking bans are indoor workplaces and buildings open to the public such as restaurants, bars, office buildings, schools, retail stores, hospitals, libraries, transport facilities, and government buildings, in addition to public transport vehicles such as aircraft, buses, watercraft, and trains. However, laws may also prohibit smoking in outdoor areas such as parks, beaches, pedestrian plazas, college and hospital campuses, and within a certain distance from the entrance to a building, and in some cases, private vehicles and multi-unit residences.
Passive smoking is the inhalation of tobacco smoke, called passive smoke, secondhand smoke (SHS) or environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), by individuals other than the active smoker. It occurs when tobacco smoke diffuses into the surrounding atmosphere as an aerosol pollutant, which leads to its inhalation by nearby bystanders within the same environment. Exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke causes many of the same diseases caused by active smoking, although to a lower prevalence due to the reduced concentration of smoke that enters the airway.
The use of tobacco for smoking in New Zealand has been subjected to government regulation for a number of decades. On 10 December 2004, New Zealand became the third country in the world to make all indoor workplaces including bars and restaurants smoke-free. The smoking rate in New Zealand was about 8% as of 2023 when the new government planned to eliminate the nation's smoking ban to fund tax cuts.
Smoking in Japan is practiced by around 20,000,000 people, and the nation is one of the world's largest tobacco markets, though tobacco use has been declining in recent years.
Smoking bans in private vehicles are enacted to protect passengers from secondhand smoke and to increase road traffic safety, e.g. by preventing the driver from being distracted by the act of smoking. Smoking bans in private vehicles are less common than bans extended to public transport or vehicles used during work, like trucks or police cars.
Smoking in China is prevalent, as the People's Republic of China is the world's largest consumer and producer of tobacco. As of 2022, there are around 300 million Chinese smokers, and 2.4 trillion cigarettes are sold there every year, 46% of the world total.
About a quarter of adults in Turkey smoke. Smoking in Turkey is banned in government offices, workplaces, bars, restaurants, cafés, shopping malls, schools, hospitals, and all forms of public transport, including trains, taxis and ferries. Turkey's smoking ban includes provisions for violators, where anyone caught smoking in a designated smoke-free area faces a fine of 188 Turkish lira (~€9.29/$9.90/£8.22) and bar owners who fail to enforce the ban could be fined from 560 liras for a first offence up to 5,600 liras. The laws are enforced by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Turkey.
Smoking in Macau is regulated more strictly than in mainland China, but not to the extent of the regulation of smoking in Hong Kong.
The majority of lifelong smokers begin smoking habits before the age of 24, which makes the college years a critical time for tobacco companies to convince college students to pick up the habit of cigarette smoking. Cigarette smoking in college is seen as a social activity by those who partake in it, and more than half of the students that are users do not consider themselves smokers. This may be because most college students plan to quit smoking by the time that they graduate.
SmokinginCanada is banned in indoor public spaces, public transit facilities and workplaces, by all territories and provinces, and by the federal government. As of 2010, legislation banning smoking within each of these jurisdictions is mostly consistent, despite the separate development of legislation by each jurisdiction. Notable variations between the jurisdictions include: whether, and in what circumstances ventilated smoking rooms are permitted; whether, and up to what distance away from a building is smoking banned outside of a building; and, whether smoking is banned in private vehicles occupied by children.
Smoking in Ireland is banned fully in the general workplace, enclosed public places, restaurants, bars, education facilities, healthcare facilities and public transport. However, it is permitted in designated hotel rooms and there is no ban in residential care, prisons and in outdoor areas. Public opinion is in favour of the bans on smoking imposed in Ireland.
Smoking in South Korea has decreased overall for both men and women in the past decades. However, a high prevalence of tobacco use is still observed, especially with the rise of novel tobacco products such as e-cigarettes and heat-not-burn tobacco products. There are socioeconomic inequalities in smoking prevalence according to gender, income, education, and occupational class. Advocates call for measures to reduce the smoking rates and address smoking inequalities using a combination of monitoring and tobacco control policies. These measures include significant price hikes, mandatory warning photos on cigarette packs, advertising bans, financial incentives, medical help for quitting, and complete smoking bans in public places.
Smoking in Greece was at the highest rate of tobacco consumption in the European Union in 2010. In 2014, Greece had the highest rate of smoking in the European Union. According to a survey published by the European Commission Day for World No Tobacco Day in 2017, 37% of Greeks are smokers and only 44% of Greeks have never smoked a cigarette, the smallest percentage in the EU. After Greece, France and Bulgaria have the next largest number of smokers with 36%. At 7%, Sweden had the lowest rate.
Smoking in India is one of the oldest industries and provides employment to more than five million people directly and indirectly. India is the second-largest producer of tobacco in the world. Smoking has been known since at least 2000 BC when cannabis was smoked and is first mentioned in the Atharvaveda. Fumigation (dhupa) and fire offerings (homa) are prescribed in the Ayurveda for medical purposes and have been practiced for at least 3,000 years while smoking, dhumrapana has been practiced for at least 2,000 years. Tobacco was introduced to India in the 17th century. It later merged with existing practices of smoking.
Tobacco smoking in the Philippines affects a sizable minority of the population. According to the 2015 Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) conducted under the auspices of the Philippines' Department of Health, Philippine Statistics Authority, the World Health Organization, and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 23.8 percent of the adult population were "current tobacco smokers". This figures represented 16.6 million of 69 million adult Filipinos.
Tobacco smoking is popular in North Korea and culturally acceptable among men, but not for women. As of 2014, some 45% of men are reported to smoke daily, whilst in contrast only 2.5% of women smoke daily, with most of these being older women from rural areas. Smoking is a leading cause of death in North Korea, and as of 2010 mortality figures indicate that 34% of men and 22% of women die due to smoking-related causes, the highest mortality figures in the world. There are tobacco control programs in North Korea, and although smoking was not prohibited in all public spaces, the smoking rates have declined since their peak in the 2000s.
Tobacco-free college campuses are colleges and universities that have implemented policies prohibiting the use of tobacco products at all indoor and outdoor campus locations. Tobacco is known to be harmful to the health of smokers, bystanders, and the environment. Since this issue was first recognized, colleges have been creating policies for tobacco use on campus in an effort to improve health standards, provide more enjoyable campus conditions, and to reduce the negative environmental effects of tobacco.
