Haia cracks down on smokers in Saudi Arabia

The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Haia) is cracking down on people smoking shisha in public places, according to a story in the Arab News.

Arab News recently visited a public park in Wadi Namir, Dariyah region, and found numerous people smoking shisha. This irritated many people who were at the park with their families and feared the shisha they were being exposed to was harmful to their health.

After authorities received numerous complaints about shisha smoking in the park, members of Haia visited the park to prevent people from smoking. The organization confiscated shisha pipes and required smokers to sign written statements saying they would not smoke shisha in public.

According to reports, it costs an estimated SR80,000 to SR250,000 to treat a person with cancer caused by smoking, and treating tobacco-related diseases has cost the Kingdom SR10 billion over the past 25 years.