Smoking in Public Places Prohibited in UAE

The United Arab Emirates is a  big country where they like to do everything in a big way. The other day here opened the world’s highest skyscraper with blowing fireworks. It’s around 818 meters and has 160 floors!

And for now if  they decide to fight against the pollution of the air by the tobacco smoke, then they can simply do so. Now in this awesome country there is a special federal law against smoking. Violators face a maximum fine of up to one million dirham (over 270 thousand dollars) and imprisonment for a term of not less than 2 years.

Is this law also affecting tourists? Well, it does. The Gulf beaches are very popular among the tourists especially in winter where everywhere else it is snowing. So these beaches are hosting a lot of guests allowing you not to get disturbed by the climate change.

The law puts a ban on smoking in public transport and indoor, in various public places such as churches, educational and health facilities, stadiums. You are not allowed to smoke in private vehicles carrying children under the age of 12 years. Except all of this the cultivation of tobacco is also prohibited.

The job of tobacco companies offering their supply to homes and areas of residence is being cut to only sales of the tobacco in the stores. Under the ban are all the commercials and other varieties of advertisement of tobacco products and their sale to persons under the age of 18.

You also cannot bring to the Emirates any tobacco products if their packages do not have clear notes about the warnings of the dangers of smoking. But anyways you don’t really need to get worried as most of the popular cigarettes have that kind of note on their products. So this point is not something that will break your holiday spirit.

Sales of tobacco products will be allowed only in strictly defined places. Even a special committee on tobacco control is created by the House of Ministers to monitor the execution of the law and to guarantee the law restriction in whole country.

“Yes, I was in the Emirates only a year ago, in a restaurant and I was smoking and now it is impossible!” – So many tourists react to this news. All of them are true. Earlier one out of seven Emirates residents was fighting against for the smoking control by him, and now they have a special federal law.

Dubai was the first place of the country that made its way to this law formation, while having banned smoking in hotels two years ago – in January 2008 and in restaurants and cafes even earlier. Lighting a cigarette can be done only in a special place, and in these reservation are designed for the youth no younger than 20. Not sure about vaping, but I do see a lot of people using those portable vaporizers with the likes of those sold here http://www.davincivaporizer.com. I guess it’s ok because it’s technically not smoke that is produced but vapors and quite frankly I sometimes like the scent of those e-juices.

In Abu Dhabi, similar restrictions are being imposed since the beginning of 2009. In Sharjah smoking in public places is against the law since June 2008. In the emirate of Ras al-Khaimah, smoking in restaurants and hotels is forbidden for over a year – from October 2008.

As a reminder I would like to say that last year Turkey, Croatia and Greece were among the countries where the pleasure of prolonged cigarette smoking in a cafe or a hotel room was forbidden. In France and Jordan, smoking in bars, hotels, shopping centers, too, is also punishable by a special fine fee.

Prohibiting of the smoking in public places will soon appear in Spain. So it seems like only in few years you will not find a resort for those who smoke as the number of non-smokers is growing increasingly year by year.