Asia Minute: Thermal cameras to catch smokers in Singapore



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Hawaii has one of the lowest rates of smoking in the United States. About 13% of local residents smoke compared to just over 17% nationally. Several Asian countries have one of the highest smoking rates in the world, but in one place they are taking new steps to reduce it.

As a general rule, a place in Asia where you want to follow the rules is Singapore. This is especially true for restrictions on smoking. Turn on the wrong place and it could cost you the equivalent of nearly 750 US dollars.

E-cigarettes? Forget it – they've been outright banned since February

But over time, the government has seen a problem with people smoking smokes in places where it's banned.

television cameras. They are so sensitive that they can detect when someone is holding a lit cigarette.

The Straits Times reports that cameras will be placed in residential areas and public spaces where smoking is prohibited, and they will also record other acts – to throw waste to spit.

Singapore already has one of the most aggressive anti-smoking policies in the world. Earlier this year, it increased its tariffs by 10% on all tobacco products.

According to government statistics twenty-five years ago, about 18 percent of Singaporeans smoked. Now this figure drops to about 13% and the government wants to reduce it to 12% by 2020.

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