Proposed Tobacco Control Bill could land you in jail for smoking in your own home

South Africans have only three weeks left to comment on the proposed new Tobacco Control Bill, Witbank News reports.

The proposed Tobacco Control Bill has caused uproar as it suggests jail time (up to three months) for persons who smoke in public conveyance, who smoke in cars containing either other persons or any person under the age of 18 and for persons who smoke in their own homes if they employ a domestic worker, garden services, tutor or au-pair.

The proposed bill will also make it illegal for restaurants, pubs and clubs to have designated smoking areas inside.

Also read: 7 things you need know about South Africa’s new smoking bill

Furthermore, smoking inside any building will be prohibited, as will smoking in certain outdoor spaces such as beaches and sport stadiums.

The proposed bill also holds property owners responsible for anyone that smokes on their property.

Should you own property and fail to display sufficiently visible “no smoking” signs, you could be jailed for up to a year.

If the proposed bill is passed, smokers will essentially only be able to smoke in a designated area outside that is at least five metres away from doors and windows.

If this bill is successfully passed, the tobacco industry will face major changes.

As tobacco use has steadily declined in most of the world, two large regions are bucking the trend. @bopinion https://t.co/qEwz5R2mdO pic.twitter.com/ZGlJGTZ5SA

— Vital Strategies (@VitalStrat) July 11, 2018

The bill also proposes plain packaging for cigarettes, which has already been implemented in Australia.

The danger of plain packaging is that it opens the door even wider to illicit trade by making it easier for crooks to disguise illegal cigarettes as the real thing.

South Africa has already lost an estimated R27 billion in revenue since 2010 due to the illicit trade of cigarettes, and this loss could potentially increase by 30% after the proposed bill is passed, if the trend in Australia holds true.

This bill is radically different to previous legislation in that it classifies e-cigarettes and vaporisers as tobacco dispensing devices, which means they will be subject to the same new rules that will apply to cigarettes.

South Africans can comment on the bill, either in favour or opposition, by submitting their comments on it via email to lynn.moeng@health.gov.za before August 10.

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