The Sunday Mail
Midlands Correspondent
SMOKING in public will attract a fine of US$500 or six months in jail after the country has aligned the Public Health Act on Tobacco Control Regulation 264 of 2001 with the World Health Organisation statutes, an official has said. In an interview, the deputy director Alcohol and Drug Abuse in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, Mrs Dorcas Sithole, said Zimbabwe became an affiliate member of WHO on Tobacco Control in March this year and some of the prerequisites were to align tobacco control polices with international regulations.
“According to Public Health Act on Tobacco control regulation 264 of 2001, smoking in public places such as public transport, public halls, public gatherings, eating places — including on the streets — is an offence. All public smokers will be prosecuted. The offence attracts a US$500 fine or a custodial sentence not exceeding six months,” she said.
Mrs Sithole said Government was trying to protect non-smokers from second-hand/passive smoking.
Passive smoking has been linked to lung cancer as second-hand smoke contains more than 4 000 chemicals, many of which are irritants and toxins.
Passive smoking has been linked to lymphoma, leukemia, and brain tumors in children; as well as cancers of the larynx (voice box), pharynx (throat), nasal sinuses, brain, bladder, rectum, stomach and breast in adults.
Mrs Sithole said the Health Ministry was awaiting approval of the National Alcohol Control Policy, which makes alcohol abuse and excessive consumption an offence.
The proposed Bill reads, “A person will not be allowed to have more than 0,08 percent blood alcohol concentration in his/her bloodstream and anyone found to have exceeded this level risks being arrested.
“The Bill awaits approval and once approved the policy regulates how much alcohol an individual should consume in licensed public places.”
Mrs Sithole said the ministry had noted an increase in drug abuse by people aged below 35.
“While I do not have the statistics at hand . . these cases have become rampant in the country mainly as a result of the multi-currency system we adopted in 2009. Government is very much concerned about the rate at which such cases are increasing. Most of these illicit drugs destined for South Africa are being diverted into the country,” she said.
