Dubai
Selling tobacco products to minors is illegal! But, certain supermarkets in Dubai’s International City are selling ‘dokha’, the tobacco smoked through a ‘midwakh’ pipe, to minors. The price of both the dokha and midwakh, which are kept at the checkout counter of these supermarkets, is between Dh10 to Dh20, which is affordable for teens between the age of 13 to 16 years.
They buy these concentrated tobacco mixes and smoke them in order to get a buzz and once they get addicted, they start taking five to six hits in a day. At the age of 13, when teens should be focusing on their studies or sports, they fall into an addiction, which is hard to put an end to. It could lead them towards negative things.
Additionally, apart from the ill effect on the lungs, smoking affects cardiovascular health, too as it thickens blood vessels, causing high blood pressure which can affect the heart, as stated by the UK-based British Heart Foundation.
Smoking dokha is more harmful than cigarettes, as stated in a report published in Gulf News in June 2012. According to one of the teenagers, who did not want to be named and who got addicted to dokha at school through some senior students who offered him to take a hit, he finds it really hard to quit despite trying his best. He urges and recommends teenagers to stay away from it. Another teenager who found out about dokha through his friends in his community decided to try it out and found it very convenient to buy it, since it was easily available at supermarkets in his neighbourhood, faced the same issues.
Q. Mahmood, a resident of International City, said: “There is a noticeable negative impact on the behaviour and emotions of the person who uses dokha. There is also a lack of concentration in the individual’s studies, which causes poor grades at school along with a bad reputation in the school and community. This can lead to getting involved with evil minded people, who can misuse these teenagers.”
M. Minakshi, a resident of Dubai’s Al Barsha area, said: “In the UAE, many parents work and it is very difficult to police the children all the time. We need to remove anything and everything that gives them the temptation to try. It must be very strictly monitored and no supermarkets should be allowed to sell any kind of tobacco to minors.”
K. Kapoor, a resident of Bur Dubai, said: “The sale of these tobacco products should not be allowed in residential neighbourhoods and supermarkets or convenient stores within the community. Instead, it should be sold only at specialised stores, like smoker’s centers, where the buyer’s proof of identity and age is mandatory.”
I urge authorities to conduct inspections of stores like these more often and penalise them for selling dokha and other harmful products to minors. There should be zero tolerance for such activities.
— The reader is a sales and marketing professional based in Dubai.
Be a community reporter. Send us your videos and pictures at readers@gulfnews.com
Editor’s note: The reader’s concerns were raised with the management of Dubai Municipality. However, despite repeated reminders, they did not respond.
