Saudi plans cigarette sale ban in Hail food stores

Food stores in the northern Saudi city of Hail could be banned from selling cigarettes in a bid to prevent children from smoking, it has been reported.

The plans, which come about after residents’ complaints of children smoking and the results of a recent study, are being finalised, reported the Saudi Gazette.

“Shops in breach of the regulations could be shut down by the Environmental Health Department and given large fines,” Turki Al-Dhab’an, the chairman of the Municipal Council in Hail, told the paper.

“The municipal council in Hail has received complaints from Saudis demanding a ban on the sale of tobacco in food stores, particularly in residential districts, and the move has come after noticing expatriate workers selling cigarettes to children,” he said.

The paper said Al-Dhab’an described the study as a “national project” initiated by the Hail municipal council.

Meanwhile, a renewed effort to enforce the ban on smoking in the kingdom’s airports is underway.

Dr Fahd Bin Muhammed Khederi, head of the Oncology Department at King Faisal Hospital in Riyadh, told the paper: “The Kingdom’s airports are very up-to-date compared to some countries but at the moment as soon as people go in they smell cigarettes. We need to get these laws working, first and foremost with airport staff who should set an example and quit,” he said.