By Joseph Varghese

Staff Report

 

As the debate continues about the prevalence of shisha smoking in several public places in Qatar, a section of residents are suggesting a new law similar to the earlier one banning cigarette smoking in public places.

While many of the residents are concerned about becoming passive smokers in several places such as restaurants and coffee shops, they are also not sure about the definition of ‘public places.’

One of the residents said shisha smoking is another variant of cigarettes as tobacco is used in both. “If cigarette smoking is banned in public, the same logic must be applied to shisha too. Moreover, when we are in a restaurant, there are many shisha users in and around who are not bothered about the people around.”

Dr Ahmed Abdul Kareem al-Mulla, senior consultant at Hamad Medical Corporation and the head of Smoking Cessation Clinic, said that shisha smoking was not included in the anti-smoking law that came into effect in 2002.

“At that time, many of the ill-effects of shisha were not known or not highlighted well. Therefore, shisha was not included in the law. There is a new law which is under the consideration of the Cabinet which includes banning shisha use in public too.”

Legal expert Nizar Kocheri said that the 2002 anti-smoking legislation has banned smoking of cigarettes in public places. “The public places, according to the legislation, refers to indoor shopping malls, elevators, public transportation, sports clubs, cinemas, theatres, restaurants, and such establishments. In general, this can be attributed to places where people gather in large number for different purposes,” he explained.

Meanwhile, several people complained that shisha smoking in closed cubicles also create problems for them. “Even if there might be certain partitions in a restaurant or a café, still the tobacco smoke will spread out to various places in the hall through the ventilation. So, what protection do we have in such situations?’’ asked a resident.

One of the staff members of a popular shisha outlet said that a large number of people visit the outlet daily. “Most of the people smoke in the open.Very few smokers go inside the restaurant and smoke. If you want to smoke inside the café, you have to buy some food too.”

He added that since most of the people are smoking outside the café, people inside have no complaints. At his cafe, one session of shisha is around QR55 and it comes in different flavours, including double apple or grapes and many more.

 

Katara decision welcomed

A number of Qataris have lauded the decision taken by the management of Katara Cultural Village to ban outdoor shisha smoking in its premises, local Arabic daily Al Sharq reported yesterday.

“This decision is in favour of all visitors to Katara, especially families who prefer visiting the open places and not the closed halls and rooms,” a citizen said.

Katara management’s decision is also in favour of public health considering that the smoking  results in negative health effects, another Qatari observed.

Katara’s decision was declared by general manager Dr Khalid al-Sulaiti who informed that shisha smoking in the public places in the Cultural Village will  be stopped from January 1, 2015. 

“This decision will contribute to combating smoking, protecting people from its health damaging effects and effectively enhancing the community’s health,” a citizen added.

 

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