JEDDAH, 21 April 2004 — While the West is intensifying its war against smoking, in Asia smoking is on the increase. Shishas — the traditional water pipes of the Middle East — are seeing a revival, and a habit that was once seen as the vice of old working-class men is now being embraced by all strata of society.
Newlyweds choose the names of their future children while puffing smoke into each other’s eyes. Families and friends socialize over the gurgle and spurts of smoke. Some may even argue that the shisha can be credited with bringing families closer together.
Differently-flavored tobacco and stylish shishas are selling well. There are rotating shishas for multiple users. There is also a small portable shisha popular among teachers and hospital staff. But so widespread has the habit become that children as young as 10 will sneak a puff without their parents batting an eyelid.
That is going too far for a group of Saudi mothers. They say people’s private habits are none of their business. But they draw the line at shisha cafes in children’s recreational facilities.
Businesses say they must meet the demands of customers at such facilities, and that means providing hubbly-bubblies to their customers.
Saudi Mothers Against Shishas (SMASH) is a group of very concerned mothers. They are appealing to the Ministry of Health to ban the sale and advertisement at or near children’s recreational facilities. Among their demands is enforcing indoor smoking bans at such businesses and prohibiting the sale and consumption of shishas for anyone under 18.
“We acknowledge that a 500-year-old Turkish contraption will not disappear from the Arab world,” they say. “But we want it to disappear from our children’s public recreational facilities.”
