Macau smokers prove very law abiding

Either the smokers of Macau are very law abiding or smoke-ban inspectors are looking in the wrong places.

According to a story in The Macau Daily Times, 161,880 inspections during the first six months of this year led to only 3,418 smoking-related violations being recorded.

That means that only two percent of inspections resulted in an infringement notice.

Ninety-two point two percent of the recorded violations were committed by men.

Two thousand and eighty-six of the offenders were Macau residents, more than one thousand were tourists, and 153 were non-resident workers.

In 129 of the cases security forces were involved.

The locations where most fines were issued comprised internet cafés (611 cases, 17.8 percent), gardens/parks/recreational areas (438 cases, 12.8 percent) and games centers (337 cases, 9.9 percent).

During the same period, the Health Bureau and the Gaming Inspection and Co-ordination Bureau conducted 277 tobacco-related inspections in casinos resulting in 277 offenses, 259 (93.5 percent) of which were committed by men.

From January 2 to June 30, the Office for the Prevention and Tobacco Control received 1,557 calls resulting in 450 smoking-related inquiries being made; 1,090 complaints; and 134 suggestions from residents.

Since the Tobacco Prevention and Control Act came into effect on January 1, 2012, authorities have conducted 1,137,404 inspections, an average of 692 per day, and 34,570 people have been fined for smoking in designated smoke-free areas.