Just 6 more months for shisha cafes to fall in line

The two-year grace period for the shisha cafes to fall in line with the anti-tobacco law of 2009 will expire in December this year.

The grace period was given to these cafes to regularise themselves, either by changing their business activity without offering smoking pipes or by moving far from the residential areas.

Shisha cafes are common throughout the Middle East, offering relaxing surroundings and the chance to smoke a shisha pipe with a variety of aromatic flavours. These cafes are traditionally the retreat of men.

A field study conducted by the Abu Dhabi Health Authority revealed that the smoking population range between 24 and 35 percent in the emirate and among them 29 percent smoke shishas.

The percentage of students who have tried smoking reaches up to about 80 percent, according to a global school-based student health survey in 2010.

The federal anti-tobacco law of 2009 prohibits smoking on modes of public transport and public closed places.

Under the provisions of the law, no licence will be issued to cafes or similar outlets serving any types of tobacco or its products inside residential buildings or quarters or near them.

Smoking is also be banned during vehicle driving in the company of a child under 12 years.

The law also bans import of tobacco and its by-products into the country unless specific standard requirements accredited in the UAE are met.