Gov’t mulls expanding smoking ban in addition to price hike

The public health authorities plan to prohibit smoking at small sports facilities such as billiard rooms and indoor golf simulators in addition to cigarette price hikes and a comprehensive ban on smoking at restaurants.

The current public health promotion law bans smoking at large sports facilities capable of accommodating 1,000 or more people, such as baseball parks and soccer fields. But there was no legal ground for restricting smoking at small sports facilities such as billiard rooms and indoor golf simulators. The Ministry of Health and Welfare considered designating small sports facilities as no-smoking areas, but the plan was postponed until next year, as the policy priority has been put on cigarette price hikes.

The ministry plans to revise the public health promotion law to ban smoking at all sports facilities such as billiard rooms, indoor golf simulators, gyms, taekwondo training halls, swimming pools, golf course, ski resorts and dance halls, among others. It is seeking to ban smoking at small sports facilities not only because of its non-smoking policy but also because of a fairness issue with Internet cafés. The ministry has been under criticism for banning smoking at Internet cafés but not restricting it at billiard rooms.

The plan sparked opposition by owners of billiard rooms, as it would cost them additional expenses for installing ventilation systems at designated smoking areas. “Considering that most customers smoke while playing billiards, a sudden smoking ban could put me out of business,” complained the owner of a billiard hall in southern Seoul.

Smokers are also complaining. “I know smoking is bad for health but I can’t quit smoking overnight,” said a smoker for 20 years. He complained of the stricter smoking ban in addition to a sharp price increase of cigarette scheduled for January 1, 2015.