Smoking bans are a new concept. The European Catholic Church created smoking bans in the 1600s. If you were caught smoking near a church during this time, you would be barred from going to Heaven. Depending on your beliefs, this punishment was either too extreme or non-existent. The ban was a tad more severe in China. In 1639, Emperor Chongzhen sentenced any smoker to death. If you think that’s extreme, the following emperor changed the law so that anyone possessing tobacco was killed. And people complain that smoking bans are too strict nowadays.
