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Shisha Continues to be Popular
DUBAI — More people enjoy dining out at Shisha cafés during the Holy Month of Ramadan as they have a lot more time to spend but doctors warn against excessive smoking during this month.
People have always associated Ramadan with shisha cafés. Marwan Matta, Operation Manager of Al Kuffa Services, which operates 14 different shisha cafés in Dubai, said people while away their time in shisha cafés during Ramadan.
He attributes this to people who find themselves with a couple of hours to kill before 5am when fasting commences.
Shisha cafés are a family activity during Ramadan although customers must be over 20 years of age to be able to smoke in a few of the shisha cafés, and if they are 18 years old, they must be accompanied by their parents, said Matta, but cannot smoke the hubble bubble.
However, not everyone goes to shisha cafés only to smoke. Quite a few of them enjoy the food and special beverages which are only served during Ramadan, such as Jalab and Tamer Hindi, said Matta. “One of our shisha cafés, Al Bandar, attracts a lot of people because of its seafood.”
Since December 31, Dubai Municipality has introduced fines up to Dh5,000 on shisha outlets that do not comply with strict rules and regulation. Shisha outlets are only permitted in residential and tourist areas and they must be located on the ground floor. They should also be at least 200 metres away from schools, mosques, educational establishment and training centers.
“People tend to justify smoking shisha saying it bubbles through water and therefore isn’t as harmful. Bubbling of the water just reduces the temperature a little bit,” said Dr John Callaghan, chief medical officer at the General Medical Clinic in Jumeirah.
Another doctor, Sabina Aidarous of the Imperial Healthcare Institute, said that shisha is worse because, “in the shisha there’s no filter and you inhale more of the impurities with each breath.”
She also warned of hidden dangers such as the fact that there is no indication of how much nicotine there is in shisha as it is unregulated. “The humidity caused by inhaling water makes the smoke from the shisha stay in the lungs longer.” Syed Qasim Ahmed, 21, said he had not known the difference between smoking shisha and cigarettes. “I always thought shisha was better than cigarettes. There’s no information about shisha, so I guess no one knows how harmful it is.”
Another shisha smoker Mohammed Abdullah Ahmed, 23 said, “It’s so horrible -I didn’t know shisha is killer. I think there should be a survey conducted about this and published more often.” ibrahim@khaleejtimes.ae
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