JEDDAH, 10 October 2006 — Medical experts have warned of the health risks to using shumma, a locally processed plant that is placed on the gums to absorb the active compounds, which includes increasing the risk of cancer and sexual impotency for regular users.
Shumma products also weaken mucous membranes, say experts, and when this protective layer is gone the body is exposed to increased risk of cancer of the lungs, throat, gums, tongue and esophagus.
Shumma, which is banned in the Kingdom but widely available, is prepared from dried leaves of a plant that grows in Yemen. The leaves are broken into pieces and then soaked in water after blending it with saffron. Then it is kept covered in a pot for six hours until its color turns to jet-black. Summa should not be confused with qat, a plant whose leaves are chewed.
The Yemeni and Sudanese varieties are the major shumma varieties available in the Saudi market. Both the varieties are becoming increasingly popular among the Saudi youths particularly in the Western and Southern regions.
Shumma is gaining popularity in the Kingdom along with sheesha (hubbly bubbly) and maasel (another variety of hubbly bubbly) as cigarettes are becoming expensive.
Municipal officials often make surprise visits to tobacco outlets to guarantee that they are not selling the highly harmful substance.
According to a source at the Jeddah Municipality, officials have recently inspected about 300 establishments that sell tobacco products to ensure shumma isn’t being sold. First-time violators are fined while repeat offenders and closed down.
Talal Al-Nashri, director of social services (field studies) at King Fahd Hospital, said that addicts that “dip” shumma are often unaware of the risk to oral cancers.
Arab News found that shumma is easily available in many shops, including convenience stores. A kilo of shumma can retail for SR250 ($67), five times the wholesale price.
Users are typically teens and young men; many falsely believe that shumma poses fewer health risks than smoking cigarettes.
Meanwhile, city officials have begun cracking down on the unregulated shisha establishments that have been cropping up in residential areas. Violators can be fined up to SR250,000, the daily Al-Madinah reported.
