DAMMAM, 22 August 2003 — This week Acting Culture and Information Minister Dr. Fahd Balghaneim announced that smoking will be banned in a number of public places including ministries, government departments, educational, health, cultural and sports institutions as well as onboard land, air and sea transport. Breakers of the regulation will be fined SR200. The law will come into effect one year after its publication in the official gazette. Concerned government departments have been asked to prepare an advanced public awareness program to combat smoking.
Since this law will cover women as well as men, Arab News asked female smokers what they thought of the new regulation and why they had taken up smoking despite its dangers. We spoke to women patronizing coffee shops at Alkhobar’s Al-Rashid Mall. Every one of the smokers stated that they understood the risk to health from smoking. However, pregnancy was the only reason that they would give up cigarettes.
“Why do I smoke? I smoke because it is the only act of rebellion possible for me,” said Hind, a 24-year-old Saudi. “I am bored. I am frustrated. I have nothing to do. Ask any man if he likes to see a woman smoke and he will say ‘no.’ So I smoke. I am finished with school. I don’t have a job or a husband. I sit at home or I sit at this coffee shop with my friends and I smoke. It’s nobody’s business.”
Hind was perhaps the angriest of the smokers, but others had valid points in regards to the law’s enforcement.
“The police haven’t stopped men from speeding and cutting the signal. The authorities haven’t stopped men from harassing women in public. There are serious problems with alcohol and drug abuse. It is unbelievable that instead of concentrating more on those issues, the government will create a penalty for smoking,” said Hala, a 21-year-old Saudi. “I must ask how the police will convince women to pay the SR200 fine? I do not have an ID. What if I don’t have SR200 in my bag? Can police come into girls’ schools? The whole regulation seems poorly thought out.”
Many women chided the government for enacting a regulation to limit smoking without being serious about discouraging people from starting smoking in the first place and, if they do get hooked, helping them quit.
“How much do cigarettes cost?” asked Carol a 39-year-old smoker from Britain. “If the government is serious about stamping out smoking, they should increase the price of cigarettes. The cost of an average packet of cigarettes is SR5. Every teenager can afford that. In most western nations cigarettes cost at least SR20 per packet and in some places it’s SR30. Young people think twice about smoking when it’s expensive.” Hearing our conversation, Amal, a 26-year-old smoker from Egypt, sitting at the next table, joined in the discussion.
“Did you know that it costs more to try to quit smoking than to keep on smoking?” she asked. “When I was pregnant I couldn’t smoke because cigarettes made me sick. After my baby was born, I became nervous and depressed. I was desperate for a cigarette. My doctor asked me to try the nicotine patches instead. It costs SR50 to use the patches for one week and only SR35 to smoke.”
Checking at a local pharmacy revealed that the highest strength nicotine patches cost SR53.70 per week. The pharmacist added that other stop smoking aids such as nicotine gum, Chinese medicine therapies and support groups are not available in the Eastern Province, although he had heard that the nicotine gum was now available in Riyadh and Jeddah.
“In the Eastern Province I don’t think we have as big a problem with women smoking as they have in Jeddah,” said Mona, a 28-year-old Saudi. “Twenty years ago almost no women smoked in Alkhobar, but in Jeddah, shisha has always been big. Even now, it’s unusual to find a coffee shop in Alkhobar offering shisha. I have ten brothers and some of them smoke and some of them don’t. My mother suspects that I’ve taken up smoking, but I don’t smoke at home. The fact is that none of us smoke in front of my father. I have to say that if I had something else to do for relaxation, I probably wouldn’t have turned to cigarettes. If all those men are concerned about my heath, then where are the sports clubs and recreation facilities for women?”
Western women seemed less nervous about the new regulations than Saudis. Perhaps this is because they are already used to smoking being limited in their home countries.
“As long as I can smoke in the family section of a coffee shop, then no problem. I just don’t want to smoke in front of men,” said Maria, a 50-year-old English woman. “In the cultural context here I would be uncomfortable smoking in the street. Honestly, I would quit if I could but I worry that I would gain weight. I’m happier being a slim smoker than fat and not smoking.”
Two 18-year-olds weren’t concerned for themselves, as they smoked infrequently, but they did have a thought for others. “This law will be very unpopular and make addicted smokers angry. People smoke more when they are nervous,” said Sarah from Australia. “It will make people miserable because the weather is really terrible,” added Jane from the USA. “Just imagine a woman having to go outside in her Abaya to smoke in this heat. Personally, I won’t smoke less. It will just be more difficult and annoying, although I am sure non-smokers will think this law is great.”
The last comment today goes to Sarah, a 24-year-old Saudi who has been smoking for two years.
“I smoke when I am bored to pass the time,” she said. “I smoke when I am nervous and upset, too. What else is there for me? When it comes to the new law, all I can do is wonder if this is what the government thinks people here need — more regulations?”
