Letters | Hong Kong should clamp down on all tobacco use, not just new products

Readers discuss the need for stronger restrictions on tobacco use, a Chinese space mission, a Shanghai ban on English exams, and the arrest of HKU students

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People smoking in Admiralty in 2017. A bill to ban e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products in Hong Kong has recently been cleared by the Legislative Council’s bills committee. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 7:25am, 26 Sep 2021

Hong Kong prides itself on being a liberal society where market forces compete freely, consequently propping up the economy and indirectly the lives of its residents. However, as much as I appreciate capitalism, it cannot run unchecked.

Take the gun industry, for example. In China and in Europe, we are fortunate to have sound prohibitive policies in this regard rather than the abhorrent self-serving permissions granted in the United States. To be fair, I see US President Joe Biden’s contempt for such a lax regulatory environment and a clear intention to address the issue. However, former US president Barack Obama also held a similar view, but could not make significant progress with gun control.

Another example is the tobacco industry. Much like with the gun industry, there is no real advantage in having it around, and yet it remains through the sheer power of money, invested heavily in lobbying.

Meanwhile, the harm it causes around the world is unimaginable. According to the World Health Organization, tobacco kills up to half of its users, more than 8 million people each year, of whom 1.2 million are victims of second-hand smoke. Over 80 per cent of the world’s 1.3 billion tobacco users live in low- and middle-income countries, which make them an easier target for rich manufacturers who can wield their power to prevent regulation.

I myself indulge in the occasional cigarette socially. In my experience, it is a great way to meet people or even further relationships with acquaintances. Recently, I even found myself vaping on those social occasions to avoid the reportedly more harmful effect of tobacco, which has only increased my weekly usage of nicotine products.

I am a social creature and thus find it difficult to dismiss such harmful habits although I am fully aware of their damaging effects, that is, unless I am forced to curb such conduct because of higher taxes on tobacco (like in the United Kingdom) or the expansion of no-smoking zones (combined with effective policing).