Syria Today | Smoking ban goes into effect

Smoking ban goes into effect

A nationwide smoking ban targeting public places such as restaurants, cafés, schools, universities, hospitals, parks, cinemas and museums went into effect on April 21.

While many observers had questioned whether the ban would be enforced in the lead up to its introduction, Syria Today reporters observed restaurants and cafés abiding by the new law on the day it was introduced.

The ban, which was issued via presidential decree in October, forbids smoking in indoor areas at restaurants and cafés. Patrons may, however, smoke in outdoor or well-ventilated areas. The decree also includes a ban on smoking water pipes (argillah), a rare restriction in the Arab world. Offenders face fines ranging from SYP 500 (USD 10.60) to SYP 100,000 (USD 2,174).

The indoor sitting areas of popular cafés such as Rawda in downtown Damascus, Al-Nawfara in the Old City and Al-Kamal near the Four Seasons Hotel, usually blanketed in a thick haze of argillah smoke, were deserted when Syria Today visited them. The outside areas of the cafés remained full, however.

“It’s a beautiful day,” Mohsen Sbay’y, a retired government employee in his 60s, said while holding a water pipe and drinking tea in the outdoor area of the Al-Kamal café. “But I don’t think it’s fair to make us sit here when it’s too hot. This is going to decrease the number of visitors to cafés. But I think tourists will be happy with this move because they have similar restrictions in their countries.”

By and large, public response to the new ban was supportive among both smokers and non-smokers interviewed by Syria Today.

“I am thinking of quitting smoking these days,” Ayman Bouz al-Jede, a 34-year-old lawyer, said. “The ban on smoking in public places and offices will help me stop this bad habit. I have two kids and I don’t want to set a bad example for them.”

Monzer Kebbeh, a TV producer, praised the decree as simply balancing the rights of non-smokers against smokers.

“Finally, I can enjoy a cup of tea without being annoyed by argillah smoke,” he said.

Likwise, Abdullah Wannos, a 17-year-old high-school student, said the ban was better for everyone in the country.

“Similar restrictions on smoking are imposed in my house,” he said.

A number of café patrons expressed doubt that the ban would continue to be enforced over the long term, however.

“This law is not easily enforced in a tobacco-loving country like this one,” Abu Layth, a 48-year-old lawyer, said. “It’s a tradition to smoke argillah in cafés.”