19 cafes closed in crackdown on selling argileh to minors

AMMAN — Nineteen cafes were closed down in Amman in January after being caught serving argileh to minors, as the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) continues strict measures to inspect facilities serving argileh, an informed source said Saturday.

Serving argileh (water pipe) to minors is illegal under the Public Health Law.

“Our campaigns are stricter now and based on inspectors’ observations and citizens’ complaints. We agree with authorities, including the Health Ministry, that serving argileh to minors… should be eradicated,” Mervat Mheirat, director of GAM’s health supervision department, said.

She told The Jordan Times that inspection campaigns are ongoing and targeting all establishments that serve hookah, including restaurants and pool halls.

“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 noted.

According to the Jordan National Anti-Smoking Society, around 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 Centre, noted that a single session of argileh smoking can be as damaging to health as smoking between 3 and 10 packets of cigarettes.

Coal used to heat the argileh is “extremely toxic” and releases up to 100 parts per million carbon monoxide emissions, the physician told The Jordan Times in previous remarks, adding that such emissions can cause asphyxiation among smokers, as well as affecting passive smokers.