In Singapore, smoking is defined as “inhaling and expelling the smoke of tobacco or any other substance, and includes the holding of any cigar, cigarette, pipe or any other form of tobacco product which is lit or emitting smoke” (NEA, 2021). Today, smoking is not a alien phenomenon whatsoever, and it is rather common to spot people smoking in public spaces such as hawker centers and along the street; in fact, studies have shown that as of 2020, 10.1% of Singapore residents smoke.
While ingesting tobacco is occasionally believed to be correlated with certain health benefits, such as a certain degree of protection against Parkinson’s disease, it is more commonly known to cause severe health problems such as cancer, stroke, various heart and lung diseases, and even death. This is because cigarettes comprises of about 600 ingredients, including highly toxic ones such as benzene, arsenic, cadmium, and ammonia. Of these ingredients, nicotine is able to trigger chemical reacts in the brain to create addictive, temporary pleasurable sensations, which explains why it is difficult for smokers to give up smoking.
The extreme addictiveness of cigarettes is probably the main reason for smoking to be considered a global public health threat. Particularly, authorities are highly concerned with reducing smoking prevalence rates in youths, as they believe that smokers who started smoking early find it harder to quit. Furthermore, youths between 18-21 years old are in an ‘experimental phase’ of their lives, and are more susceptible to peer/situational pressures to try smoking (Mothership, 2020). One measure taken by the Singapore government is to increase the legal smoking age, which stands at 21 years old as of 1st January 2021.
Yet Non-Smokers are Receiving the Short End of the Stick
Another reason why smoking is regarded as a public health concern, is related to its negative externalities (i.e. negative impacts to third parties when producing/consuming a good). In this case, non-smokers will also have to bear similar consequences of first-hand smoking when they come into contact with second and third-hand smoke — second-hand smoke left of the surface of objects and progressively becomes more toxic over time.
Fanning the Flames or Putting the Fire Out?
Knowing that smoking and cigarettes cause much more harm than ‘good’, why are cigarettes not completely banned? Similar to other drugs and addictive substances, a complete ban on cigarettes will not only be ineffective in solving the issue of smoking, it might even worsen it. According to a CNN commentary, people who smoke would still smoke except now they will be deemed criminals. Prisons will then overcrowd, smokers will turn to illegal outlets like black markets (which are often violent and profit hungry), and a huge strain would be placed on defense systems to keep smokers under control.
Hence, the strategy employed by the Singapore government is a compromise — to restrict the places where smoking is allowed. From 1st July 2022, about 100 more sites will be smoke-free in addition to more than 49,000 other places already on the list (CNA, 2022). People who smoke in these places will face a fine of up to $1,000 if convicted in court.
Despite the large coverage of smoking bans in Singapore, it seems that there is still room for improvements to be made. In October 2020, a motion to ban smoking near windows or at the balconies of HDB flats and private apartments was raised in Parliament by MP Louis Ng (CNA, 2020). However, his motion was rejected due to enforcement difficulties and worries of privacy invasion. This has left non-smokers helpless in their own home, unable to escape especially in the context of increased remote working in the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, while enforcing smoking bans on public spaces have proved to be effective so far, perhaps its effectiveness has already neared its peak.