It was a wise recommendation by the minister of labor, Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi, to ban smoking in all government departments. The education minister also took the right step when he launched a project entitled called ‘The No-Smoking Ministry.’
The reason for this article is an article published in Al-Bayan in the UAE. In the emirate of Ras Al-Khaima, the employment of smokers has been banned in a medical complex.
According to the newspaper, employees sign a document promising not to smoke after they are employed and to accept punishment if they are caught smoking. The complex has given a time limit for employees who are smokers to stop smoking and foreign workers, who continue to smoke, will not have their contracts renewed.
This is surely a wise decision and one which should be followed by other businesses and companies.
There is little doubt that smoking is harmful to the health of those who smoke and of those who may simply be in contact with smokers. Smoking affects the ability to smell, taste and causes diseases of the stomach and other body organs in addition affecting the heart and causing memory loss.
Many smokers say that they have a right to smoke. What about the right of nonsmokers not to inhale the smoke? Smokers have no right to take a clean area and fill it with their poison.
If they insist on smoking, then they should be obliged to do so in an isolated area, away from people who object to the habit. If smokers know the dangers of smoking, then why do they continue smoking? I wonder, too, what readers would think if we did here what was done in Ras Al-Khaima.
