Jordan: Hubble-Bubble, There''s Shisha-Smoking Trouble on Saudi Beaches

Source from:  Al Bawaba.com (jo) 01/12/2015

"IT is my right to enjoy a clean beach"　was the motto of a recent campaign started by several Jubail residents against beach-goers who smoke shisha, or hubble-bubble, on the city's beaches.

The smokers are accused of polluting beaches with discarded coal and of denying others the right to enjoy a clean and smoke-free environment.

Speaking to Alsharq newspaper, local resident Abu Abdulrahman recalled an incident several days ago during which he and his family members were forced to leave the beach when they noticed a number of people preparing and getting ready to smoke shisha.

"I was forced to leave the place immediately because I don't want my children around people who smoke. "

The supervisory bodies in charge of beaches should crack down on any type of smoking on the seafront," he said.

According to Abdullah Al-Suwailim, another resident, families are staying away from beaches due to the presence of shisha smokers.

Despite the common belief that shisha is less harmful than cigarettes, said ENT consultant at Jubail General Hospital Dr. Ali Al-Najdi, there is a link between shisha smoke and lip cancer.

Al-Najdi said aside from lip cancer, shisha smokers can contract cancers of the mouth and urinary bladder.

While no official statistics are available on the number of shisha smokers in the Kingdom, estimates put the number of male and female Saudi shisha smokers at around 6 million.

As part of ongoing efforts to reduce the number of shisha smokers in Arab and Muslim societies, the help of prominent personalities has been enlisted to raise awareness on its dangers.

Once a favorite pastime of men, shisha is now popular among women and even children. This is despite studies on the effects of shisha on Arab societies proved that there was a close link between shisha smoking and oral cancer.

A study conducted by the College of Dentistry at Egypt's Al-Azhar University and published in the International Journal of Dermatology in 1999 showed a clear link between shisha smoking done with a plastic pipe and oral cancer.

There is a widespread belief that shisha smoking is less harmful because the smoke is filtered by water.

However, numerous studies have shown that the opposite is true: a single shisha smoking session is equal to smoking eight cigarettes.

A shisha smoker inhales more carbon dioxide than a cigarette smoker and is, therefore, more susceptible to being afflicted with heart and lung diseases.

Pregnant women in particular are at risk as shisha smoke may have a negative effect on the growth of the fetus. Enditem