The residents of the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi have asked the authorities concerned to implement effective strategies to curb the menace of sheesha consumption among youngsters and teenagers at public places.
Most hotels, restaurants and cafes in Islamabad and other big cities of the country had been openly offering this deadly product in a variety of flavors, where as youngsters belonging to under-18 age group hung outside the sheesha serving cafés for smoking, as they did not face any hurdle here to satiate their desire.
Sheesha offers a mixture of crude types of tobacco fermented with molasses and fruits and the sweet odor of fruits conceals the natural smell of tobacco tar and nicotine.
Ahmad Bilal, a senior official in a government organization told news agencies that,”This deadly smoking had become a fashion symbol in the society but the smokers did not know that it was a delicious killer, which kills the person gradually.”
Every day new cafes offering sheesha had been opening up in the country because of its increasing demand in the younger generation, he added.
Zehra Jabeen, a professor at a local college said, “Sale of cigarettes or other tobacco items to youngsters below 18 is banned in Pakistan.
But various sheesha outlets openly violated the state laws that bar the sale of tobacco to youngsters below the age of 18. Such outlets had been springing up at the Jinnah Super, Melody and F-10, Pir Suhawa and other restaurants of the federal city”.
According to the health experts, sheesha users inhaled up to 150 times more tobacco in a single session than a cigarette. Sheesha had been knopwn to cause different lung diseases, cancer and the flavored smoking was many times more harmful to the health than a simple cigarette.
The government had taken some steps to curb this social evil, like in Sindh, the government banned sheesha smoking in April 2012 under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, whereas in other big cities, it directed the officials concerned to launch health awareness campaigns to initiate stern action against the sheesha cafes in the city.
It had been a point to ponder over for the government, policy makers and the public whether only awareness campaigns could stop this social evil or whether we needed a legal ordinance to stop sheesha smoking at all public places.
