inister of Public Works and Minister of State for Municipal Affairs Dr. Fadhil Safar stressd here on Monday the need to take the necessary requirements and regulations to prohibit smoking and the hubbly bubbly, known as “shisha,” in public places, restaurants and cafes.
The minister told KUNA while attending the 12th meeting of the Higher Committee for planning in Kuwait Municipality that smoking and shisha constitute negative aspects of civilization and harmful to public health.
For his part, head of the follow-up office of the Minister of State for Municipal Affairs Abdul Karim Al-Zaid said that the committee commissioned the Technical Office of the Minister of State for Municipal Affairs to study the possibility of banning shisha at once.
He said the High Commission had reviewed and discussed the report and recommended a joint coordination between the Technical Office and the Legal Department for taking necessary action and to stiffen sanctions on such phenomenon. [Source]
I’m not sure if they’re talking about a complete ban on shishas or what exactly. The article says they want to ban shishas in “public places, restaurants and cafes” and to me that sounds like a complete ban which I think would be a bit extreme. On the other hand it would make a lot more sense if they want to ban shishas from “indoor” public places, restaurants and cafes. Personally I would rather they focus on banning indoor smoking first since to me that’s a bigger issue and in any case, by banning indoor smoking it would basically also ban indoor shishas.
47 replies on “Shisha Ban”
What about sheesha cafe’s? I.e. the places where people go just to have sheesha?
i guess if its a total ban then they’ll have to reply on their great food to bring customers back
Usually in places that ban indoor smoking, you have to get a license and prove a large part of your revenue is from smoking to allow it. So in the US many cities still allow sheesha cafes, cigar lounges, etc. etc. to let you smoke indoors.
I don’t think people would be too thrilled smoking shisha outdoors when the weather is soaring 40+ C.
well i dont mind shisha cafes since it’s like a cigar lounge, if you go there u expect people are going to be smoking cigars. On the other hand I do have a problem with smoking at restaurants I don’t want to be seated in the back room because i’m a non smoker or be forced to sit a table away from someone who is.
yup
Good decision by the ministry. I’m a smoker but I remember what it used to be like being around people who smoked when I was a non-smoker.
Easy solution:
Let sheesha cafes allow smoking indoors, require a seperate license from restaurants, ban smoking in restaurants.
One of the most annoying things in the world is having someone smoke next to you while you try to eat
Using mobile phones while driving and smoking in malls were OFFICIALLY banned, weren’t they?
But have we seen a change?
Guys, ban or no ban… doesn’t make a difference.
+1… I would rather they implement the ban on the mobile very strictly, could save some lives…..
It’s difficult fining someone talking on a mobile while driving as they can always deny they did it but if a restaurant is caught offering sheesha to its customers there’s no way they can deny they don’t offer it.
not to mention TXTing! that’s the worst
use SIRI 😉
It’s a lot easier to ban things like this if you fine the restaurant because the restaurant itself will make sure you comply. They don’t want to lose money 🙂
Nonsmokers are the whiniest bunch of babies.
Smokers who literally cannot wait 10 minutes they HAVE TO SMOKE right now because they have absolutely no self control are mature, rational adults
Say that when your lying on your death bed at age 20.
At least shisha smells nicer than cigarettes.
when u walk in a sheesha cafe and come out of it you smell like a fruit but u stink after smoking
There is no ‘cafes’ other than Shisha Cafes, I think it’s total ban for it, which means smoke at home or else where.
i find ciggarettes annoying but i luv shisha 😀
So why stop there, why not ban fast food as well? A lifetime of frequent fast food consumption is probably worse than shisha on the weekends. I always found it strange how much attention people give to things like shisha while a terrible diet rarely gets as much of a bad rep, even though it’s as significant of a culprit for poor health as anything out there, if not more. When you stuff your face with machboos’n’daqqoos and cheeseburgers day in and day out, and you sit on your ass all day everyday, and you stay up all night and get a few hours of sleep before work, then you come back home and turn on the news to stress over the latest crazy ass political shit, you’re gonna be in shitty health because you’re a shitty person and you live a shit lifestyle. It feels good for some politician to ban something, but the reality is you can’t protect people from themselves. All you can do is inform them and hope they make the right choice. Banning shisha won’t change much, but a proper health education can go a long way.
Leave machboos out of this rice veggies and meat are NOT cheeseburgers
Machboos is delicious, but a healthy meal it is not. Definitely not something you wanna be eating day in and day out.
If you eat fast food it doesn’t hurt the random people sitting next to you, if you smoke it does.
Here’s a fun statistic: Driving drunk actually leads to LESS deaths than Walking across streets while drunk. However, when you drive drunk the deaths are usually other people and when you walk drunk the deaths are usually your own. That’s why there are a lot of anti drinking and driving laws but no laws about walking across busy highways drunk – if you do something stupid it’s your own fault, if you endanger others it’s irresponsible.
People who don’t smoke should avoid shisha joints. This article is talking about banning it altogether.
I agree with that, I’m saying part of it is reasonable – let people smoke Shisha in shisha places, don’t let them smoke cigarettes in Restaurants
Ban this! ban that! We don’t want to work! We don’t want to educate or find solutions let just ban!!
Let then institute smoking ban before embarking on this – haha
Bull Shit
Are these people serious?! They’re acting is if smoking is the only problem in Kuwait and there are no other bigger problems! A bunch of retards trying to come up with new ways to ruin people’s lives. If they’re thinking about people’s health well people can think and know what they are doing to themselves. and how the hell are they going to ban them with so many shisha lounges in Kuwait?!
No they’re not, they probably mentioned this in between other bigger problems everyone doesn’t care about because they only care about things that directly affect their daily life
I don’t agree with a sheesha ban but banning smoking in restaurants I agree with
Ban ban ban everything.
What are they planning to ban next? A ban on junk food because it’s bad for people’s health and a negative phenomenon in society????? Why don’t they just mind they’re own business and deal with more important problems, instead of eating away at our liberties.
You can bet its the Islamists that are behind this, pressuring the minister of Municipality fadhel safar… He will do anything to get out of a grilling threat… Don’t forget a few years ago that the was a similar effort by the Islamists to ban shisha places. So obviously them again.
The government should show some backbone and not give into those islamofascists.
Smoking actually infringes on other people’s liberties to not have their lungs filled with your smoke
A ban on celebrating new year in public, what a joke!
Fadil Safar is a disaster he should resign . Ever since he took over municipality and public works it’s been one disaster after another: Mishrif, 1st ring road delays, rotten food et etc
I guess the powerful major contractors like him
Bahrain requires permits for sheesha and from what I understand it is pretty pricey!
If you are not a smoker then what the hell are you doing in a shisha cafe in the first place. I quit smoking years back, but smoke shisha cus its a change of surroundings and a chance to unwind after crap day at work. A non shisha smoker has no business going to a place like that in since he knows fully well that the place is filled with smoke. Restaurants on the other hand a person is going there to have a nice meal, if non smokers find it obtrusive to them, then i can understand and I am in agreement with that. Smoking cigarettes on the other hand in malls etc I am totally against.
One thing is, if they are really worried about our health and what we breathe, perhaps they can do some thing about the atrocious air quality that we breath, this has nothing to do with smoking, sheesha, cigarettes or whatever, its called pollution and affects every last person living here.
Why ban Shisha? It’s part of our culture that we had for god knows how long, why ban something that other countries are benefiting really well from?
It’s Indian
yes they started it, we perfected it. Arabs, Turks and Persian are the masters of shisha today.
Still is a tradition for us.
And cocaine was part of the UK culture, they used to sniff it in parliament. Still illegal there now
I think u r confusing cocaine with snuff…..
Snuff is a product made from ground or pulverised tobacco leaves. It is an example of smokeless tobacco. It originated in the Americas and was in common use in Europe by the 17th century. In recent years because of the ban on smoking in pubs in most European Union countries, the practice of snuff taking has increased somewhat.[1]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snuff
God dammit they’re planning to ban the only thing people do to past time! Kuwait is seriously a sad country..
Firstly, there are no bars/clubs here where you can socialize..
Even though there are so many new food chains in Kuwait, you don’t expect people to eat out and spend 5-6 kd everyday on lunch or dinner
We have milsim, paintball, Aqua park, jet ski(only available during the 3 month summer period)..Still you dont go there everyday right?
gulf road is the longest club in the world i think…the young a3gad people see one hot girl or even a girl in scarf, the follow her..so sad! And women like it for some reason
Then comes entertainment. Unless you know weird ass people who throw parties where girls get “tipsy” on soda, it’s a waste of weekend..
The only lively place in Kuwait is the sheesha bars and malls which is also full of testosterone
WHAT THE HELL ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO IF THEY BAN SHEESHA!!
free burgers..