Dubai: The fight against ‘big tobacco' is long and hard but the UAE recently took a major decision that will help smokers.
A Cabinet decision will make tobacco manufacturers put a graphic on cigarette packets that will show the harmful effects of smoking.
A doctor said such graphic images usually help people quit rather than raising the cost of a packet of cigarettes.
The next step that the UAE will take is to force tobacco companies to sell cigarettes in plain packaging.
The UAE has been at the forefront in the fight against the use of tobacco, making smoking unlawful in all public places in the country.
Fine
You can incur a heavy fine if you smoke even in your own car if there is a child in the vehicle.
Tobacco companies usually try to find a way to lure the young into this harmful lifelong addiction but the municipalities are cracking down hard on grocery stores selling candy that has a tobacco mix to schoolchildren.