More take to Sheesha Monday, 09 August 2010 02:23

 

 

 

BY MOBIN PANDIT

DOHA: A form of tobacco use that is described by experts as being worse than cigarette addiction is catching on fast in the cash-rich Qatari community. Hounded by strident anti-smoking campaigns, cigarette smokers are gradually switching to Sheesha (hubble-bubble).

And the young, not only men but increasingly women, are falling prey to what are money-spinning rackets. A Sheesha joint on average makes between QR10,000 and QR15,000 a day.

It is no secret that come Ramadan and Sheesha smoking becomes a fad among Qatari men and women alike.

The irony is that while the government is curbing cigarette smoking and has passed stringent laws banning it in public places, cafes offering Sheesha drags are being encouraged by the authorities.

While the government has stopped issuing new licences for Sheesha joints, opening such “fancy” outlets in the Cultural Village or Souq Waqif is permitted, even encouraged.

Enquiries made by The Peninsula reveal that due to the lucrative profits Sheesha joints can make, old commercial registrations for Sheesha cafes are up for grabs for anything between QR200,000 and QR300,000.

People dragging away at a Sheesha in a café are charged between QR25 and QR40 for one sitting of about half-an-hour, say users. People addicted to what they consider is a harmless pastime usually have two or more sittings in one go.

There are people who visit a Sheesha joint twice or many times a day — usually after each meal. Then there are the more addicted types who can have 10 sittings in one go, spanning an incredible five hours, in a Sheesha cafe, sending hundreds of riyals up in smoke not realising they are spending money to invite serious health problems.

Enquiries reveal that on average a patron spends a minimum of between QR100 and QR150 in one sitting in a Sheesha café ordering tea, coffee, water and snacks while dragging away at the hubble-bubble, also known as water pipe.

Thus, each Sheesha café makes no less than between QR10,000 and QR15,000 a day on average, say sources. A café’s income goes up considerably during major regional or international soccer fixtures, which is shown on television sets.

Some Sheesha cafes offer electronic games as major attractions and they make a lot of money as patrons, especially youngsters, frequent them more.

During Ramadan, new television serials are telecast by the mushrooming Arabic-language channels so many Sheesha addicts, among them young men and women, tend to spend more time in these cafes watching their favourite shows.

Community sources say that most Sheesha joints are Lebanese-owned, and young girls and women addicts tend to patronise the most luxurious among them.

Another example of how the government is encouraging the dangerous trend of Sheesha smoking is that civic authorities have no qualms about granting permission to star hotels to set up Ramadan tents and offer Sheesha smoking as a major attraction.

The tobacco used in Sheesha comes in different flavours. The most popular one in Qatar is the one with the grape flavour. It is imported from the UAE.

The tobacco with the apple flavour which is imported from Bahrain is not so popular here. Tobacco also comes in strawberry and pineapple flavours.

A 250g pack of tobacco costs about QR36, market sources say. In some cafes here, people put pieces of raw pineapple or watermelon directly on the tobacco in a Sheesha for added flavour. This practice has long been banned in the neighbouring UAE.

Experts say Sheesha is more harmful than cigarette smoking, so the question is: By encouraging Sheesha joints in Souq Waqif and in the Cultural Village and allowing Ramadan tents to perpetrate the dangerous habit, isn’t the government violating a law it enforced in 2002; banning smoking in public places?

Community sources opposed to Sheesha smoking and parents with growing concerns wonder what could they possibly do to stop the government from breaking its own laws.

Some cafes have tried to popularise the use of disposable pipes in a Sheesha to minimise the harms that can be caused to customers from the bacteria deposited over time in permanent pipes.

But café sources say that experiment miserably failed as people still prefer the permanent type of pipes saying they are more ‘enjoyable’.

Community sources say that it is again ironical that while public health authorities have been crying foul about cigarette smoking and the entire focus of their anti-smoking campaign has been on cigarettes and tobacco chewing, not much is being said by the campaigners about the government encouraging Sheesha cafes in Souq Waqif and in the Cultural Village as well as in Ramadan tents.

At a symposium on anti-smoking held by the Supreme Council of Health recently, it has been pointed out that 36 percent of adults in the country are smokers.

Expressing concern, the Council said it is a very high percentage and cited 2004 and 2006 figures of smoking among students which suggest that 10.7 percent of male students and 2.8 percent of their female counterparts were smokers.

It is a matter of even more concern that these students were found to be in the age group of 12 to 15 years, but the symposium said nothing of Sheesha and its rapidly growing addiction.

And while stores within 500 metres of a school have been banned from selling tobacco and its products, the cafes encouraging Sheesha smoking are thriving and doing a brisk business in the city.

Community sources wonder if it is because of indirect pressure from the private sector on the government to soft-peddle on the issue (of Sheesha) since the money to be made by the dangerous business is much more than from cigarette sale where commissions are marginal and local dealers are just a few.

THE PENINSULA

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