Background of study

Cigarette smoking is started from XV century when Columb imported tobacco to

Europe (Pubmed, 2009). However in the Americas, Native Americans use tobacco at between
600 to 900 A.D. (Mehul Dhokiya, 2016). They smoked tobacco through a pipe for special
religious and medical purposes. The name of nicotine that contained in cigarette is comes from
Jaen Nicot Villeman as his surname. Washington Duke made the first commercial cigarette in
1865 on his 300 acre farm in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was not until the cigarette machine
was invented by James Bonsack in 1881 that cigarette smoking became widespread. The
cigarette machine from Bonsack’s could produce 120,000 cigarettes a day. American Tobacco
Company is the first tobacco company in the U.S. They packed the cigarettes in a box with
baseball cards and branded them as Duke of Durham. Then in 1902, Philip Morris company
introduced the Marlboro brand.

Tobacco was first exploited as a drug, but now it is a very harmful stimulant. In 1964,
the U.S. Surgeon General wrote a report on cigarette smoking hazards. He said cigarette
nicotine and tar caused lung cancer. Cigarette smoking harms nearly every organ of the body,
causes many diseases, and reduces the health of smokers in general (Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 2016). More than 480,000 deaths each year in the U.S caused by
cigarette smoking. In Malaysia, some 20,000 Malaysians die annually due to smoking and the
highest number of smokers are men between the ages of 15 and 24 (The Star Online, 2015).
Cigarette smoking increases risk for death from all causes in men and women. Smoking
cigarettes is still a real problem and an increased risk of many diseases. Many toxic components
of smoke get into all organs and upset their activities and run life processes properly.

On 1 January 2019, Malaysia’s government introduced smoking ban enforcement at all

eateries and restaurants (The Star Online, 2019). The purpose of this enforcement was to reduce
smokers’ incentives for smoking in restaurants and also to protect non-smokers from second-
hand tobacco smoke (The Straits Times, 2018). Those caught smoking in forbidden areas will
be fined up to RM10,000 or face two years in prison while eateries found to have enabled
customers to light up will be slapped with a maximum RM2,500 fine. However, smokers are
allowed to light up 3m away from eateries and restaurant for smoking. In addition, eatery
operators are required to display a “no-smoking” poster at their premises at least 40cm x 50cm
prominently.
Objectives

4. To identify examples of other countries that enforced smoking ban in eateries and
restaurants.

Discussion

The examples of other countries that enforced smoking ban in eateries and restaurants
are Albania, Bahrain and Brazil.

In Albania, the smoking ban was enforced is on 30 May 2007 in closed public areas
and outlawing the advertisement of tobacco (Wikipedia, 2019). Then in 2013, law enforcement
has been implemented, and smoking is strictly forbidden in closed public areas including bars,
pubs, and restaurants. If any of these places are caught allowing a customer to smoke, € 2,200
is fined and € 350 is imposed on the smoking person.

In Bahrain, the government of Bahrain introduced anti-smoking legislation in indoor

public areas including restaurants, cafes, hair salons, shopping malls and public transport. The
“No-smoking” signs should be displayed in all the mentioned facilities and the general public
must adhere fully to the rule, stipulated by law (Mybahrain.net, 2019). Furthermore, no
advertising that promotes smoking is permitted, and cigarette manufacturing or importers are
prohibited from marketing or publishing their products through sporting events.

In Brazil, the smoking ban was enforced on 2009 and tightened the law as new anti-
smoking legislation in December of 2014 (Angelico Law, 2015). Smoking is strictly forbidden
in any public or private place including restaurants, nightclub or public or private meeting hall.
In addition, the legal age for tobacco sales and consumption is 18 (Wikipedia, 2019). Tobacco
advertising is banned on television and radio. However tobacco advertising is restricted to
posters in shops. All cigarette packs contain smoking advertisements and government
warnings.
Reference

Angelico Law (2015) Understanding Brazil’s new anti-smoking law Accessed on 11 May
2019 at http://www.thebrazillawblog.com/understanding-brazils-new-anti-smoking-law/

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2016) Health Effects of Cigarette Smoking
Accessed on 11 May 2019 at
https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/health_effects/effects_cig_smoking/i
ndex.htm

Mehul Dhokiya (2016) Why were cigarette created? Accessed on 11 May 2019 at
https://www.quora.com/Why-were-cigarettes-invented-1

Mybahrain.net (2019) Bahrain issues strict anti-smoking law Accessed on 11 May 2019 at
http://www.mybahrain.net/viewtravelnews.asp?ID=509

Pubmed (2009) History of cigarette smoking: The effect of tobacco smoking on women’s
health Accessed on 11 May 2019 at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20301962

The Star Online (2015) 20,000 die yearly due to smoking Accessed on 11 May 2019 at
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2015/04/24/20000-die-yearly-due-to-smoking-men-
between-15-and-24-form-majority-of-smokers-says-ministry/

The Star Online (2019) Smoking ban starts today Accessed on 11 May 2019 at
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/01/01/smoking-ban-starts-today/

The Straits Time (2018) Malaysia to ban smoking at all eateries from Jan 1 Accessed on 11
May 2019 at https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/malaysia-to-ban-smoking-at-all-
eateries-from-jan-1

Wikipedia (2019) List of smoking bans Accessed on 11 May 2019 at

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_smoking_bans