Oct
10
By Paolo von Schirach
October 10, 2011
WASHINGTON – China is credited to have efficient planning, great infrastructure and benevolent technocrats who plan strategically for the very long term. Well, if it is indeed so, then they are really ahead of us in one critical area of consumer products, as we learn from a Bloomberg BusinessWeek story, (For Chinese Students Smoking Isn’t All Bad, October, 3, October 9, 2011).
Smoking is good for you
Contrary to what you have been taught, “cigarette smoking is good for you”, at least in China. And I do not think that it is because of a special medicinal tobacco that they have bio-engineered in China. No, smoking is good for you because the state that owns the tobacco companies and makes huge profits from large sales. Tobacco products are a state monopoly in China. Therefore there is zero incentive to discourage smoking through the massive public service campaigns that we have seen in the US and elsewhere.
Chinese cigarette companies sponsor schools
In fact, in China the opposite is true. Smoking is encouraged. Tobacco companies like China National Tobacco are major sponsors of education and schools. Just like Coca Cola is Africa presents itself as a community oriented corporation that helps local causes and supports sports teams, more implausibly Chinese tobacco companies support schools. In other words, the promotion of smoking in China is public policy.
On the gates of some tobacco sponsored schools you can read that: “Genius comes from hard work – tobacco helps you become talented“. How would you like to propose this, shall we say counter intuitive, concept at your next School Board or PTA meeting? This should fly well. Or you could propose that your children school should be renamed from “Jefferson Elementary” to “Marlboro Elementary”, just like they have in the case of “Sichuan Tobacco Hope Primary School”. There is a certain ring to it: “Tobacco Hope”. Think of that.
Doctors smoke
True enough, as the Bloomberg BusinessWeek story explains, the peddling of tobacco products has restrictions in China, including a prohibition to adevertising in most media. And, technically speaking, there is a smoking ban in public places. Still, according to the story, the ban is not enforced, while penalties are nominal. (This matches my own experience in many Chinese public places in different cities). Much worse, in China two out of five medical doctors smoke. There is even smoking in hospitals, even though there is an attempt to curb this practice.
320 million smokers
Well, all this peddling and sponsorships by tobacco companies adds up to 320 million smokers in China, including about half of the male population. That is more than the entire US population). And the numbers are growing because more young people start smoking and start early. As reported, the main reason for this is that the government makes quite a bit of money out of this nasty habit and so there is no effort to curb production or to educate the people about the dangers of cigarette smoking. As a result of this education neglect most Chinese are still unaware of the health risks associated with the habit. In the meantime, the tobacco sector in China grew at an astonishing 19% rate from 2006 to 2010, generating large profits and tax revenue for the state.
Short sighted policy will turn out to be costly
So, what do we make of all this? Nothing good, quite frankly. This is the same short sighted, or worse, attitude that has given China some of the most polluted cities and the extremely polluted rivers and water because of total disregard for the environment as a vital public good, while the country was single mindedly pursuing economic growth. And here it is the same.
People like to smoke. The state makes huge profits from this habit. So, why stop this? In fact let’s encourage this habit by sponsoring elementary schools, so that children from a young age will start associating cigarettes with something benign. Someone, later on, will think about the consequences of this policy. For now, let’s enjoy all the profits.
This is clearly very good for business. But it is not smart public policy. China will inevitably pay a hefty price for encouraging cigarette smoking. May be someone should submit this public health issue to the attention of the state planners. An oversight on their part, perhaps, as they were strategizing for the long term? This looks like bad planning, affecting hundreds of millions.
By the way: an 1638 Imperial edict in China declared that the possession, use or selling of tobacco was a capital offense punishable by decapitation.
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