SMOKING

Smoking is prevalent throughout the Middle East, and Qatar is no exception. Between cigarettes and shisha (also called hubbly bubbly, hookah, and nargileh), smoking is acceptable and gaining popularity. Shisha smoking is a community event; whereas westerners get together over drinks or coffee, Qataris smoke together.

Image: Creative Commons

Image: Creative Commons

Qatar residents purchase over 1 billion cigarettes per year and consume 12,000 cigarettes annually per person: more than Europe. Smoking is epidemic.

Smoking shisha is more dangerous than cigarettes: some studies approximate several hundred times more dangerous. While cigarettes have filters to moderate smoke, shisha smoke passes directly into the mouth, throat, and lungs. Unfortunately people believe sucking smoke through the water removes tobacco’s impurities. In truth, water adds humidity to the smoke, which is then retained longer in the lungs.

Qatar is making efforts to reduce smoking by increasing taxes, penalizing those who smoke in certain public spaces, and campaigning for public awareness.

Evidence from research doesn’t present a compelling enough argument for Qataris to change their habits. Read John 16:8. We pray the Holy Spirit would convict and compel Qataris to change in ways that would prolong both earthly life and eternal life.

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