Tag: jordan

Jail for misplaced smokers
The firm implementation of Jordan’s Public Health Law is the cornerstone of achieving a reduction in tobacco consumption and, thereby, a healthier society, according to a story in The Jordan Times quoting ‘experts’ who met on Thursday.
Referring to a newly-amended law that bans smoking in public places, the Health Ministry’s spokesperson Hatem Azrui said that more institutions were showing commitment to complying with such regulations and that anti-tobacco efforts were becoming more serious.
Recent amendments to the law have introduced harsher penalties for those who smoke in public places, including imprisonment for one to three months or a fine of JD100-JD200.
The owners of facilities where smoking violations take place, meanwhile, are liable to fines of JD1,000-JD3,000.
The recent amendments to the law have changed, too, the definition of a public place, bringing it into line with that of the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
July 17, 2017
Smoking relaxations
Hundreds of restaurants and cafés in Jordan will no longer face being fined for allowing people to smoke hubble bubble pipes on their premises following an agreement between the ministries of tourism and health, the Greater Amman Municipality and the Jordan Restaurant Association.
According to what appeared to be an opinion piece in The Jordan Times, the agreement provides these establishments with a grace period to ‘rectify their situation’, which will entail the setting up of distinct smoking and non-smoking areas, the installation of adequate ventilation systems and the imposition of an 18-years age limit for smokers.
The Times commented that it appeared the concerned authorities were missing the point behind a World Health Organization rule against smoking in public places, ‘which Jordan adopted in principle, but never got around to fully respecting’.
‘Smoking, research shows, is bad for health,’ the Times said. ‘It is the reason for a long list of medical conditions and comes with a hefty price tag, both for the country and for individuals.
‘These considerations should override the business concerns of restaurants and cafés…
‘Our authorities seem to be going the opposite way, prioritizing the business of restaurants and cafés, at the expense of health.’
July 10, 2017
Age restrictions enforced
Photo by Jan Krömer
Nineteen cafés were closed down in Amman, Jordan, in January after staff were caught serving argileh (shisha) to minors, according to a story in The Jordan Times citing ‘an informed source’.
Serving argileh to minors is illegal under the Public Health Law, and the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) is said to be inspecting rigorously facilities serving argileh.
“Our campaigns are stricter now and based on inspectors’ observations and citizens’ complaints,” said Mervat Mheirat, director of GAM’s health supervision department. “We agree with authorities, including the Health Ministry, that serving argileh to minors… should be eradicated.”
“This issue was not a priority in the past, but now we are more committed to cracking down on those who sell argileh to young people,” Mheirat added.
According to the Jordan National Anti-Smoking Society, about 23 per cent of Jordanians between the ages of 13 and 15 smoke argileh.
In previous remarks, Feras Hawari, director of the cancer control office at the King Hussein Cancer Center, said that a single session of argileh smoking could be as damaging to health as smoking between three and 10 packs of cigarettes.
The coal used to heat an argileh was “extremely toxic”, releasing up to 100 parts per million carbon monoxide emissions, the physician told the Times, before adding that such emissions could cause asphyxiation among smokers and affect passive smokers.
February 27, 2017