By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Authorities in Mali have begun enforcement of the new policy banning shisha smoking, following a six-month period of grace given to bars to make adjustments.
Government had in August 15 last year announced a surprise ban on shisha smoking.
According to the country’s anti-drug, dozens of arrests have been made in the capital Bamako while water pipes used in smoking the now illicit substance were seized.
Reports say bars where small groups of smokers, primarily young men hang out to chat and puff on hookahs have flourished in Bamako in recent years.
But the August ban by the junta-dominated government may have brought this fin period to an abrupt end.
The anti-drug agency, Central Narcotics Office (OCS) warns that shisha smokers would be liable to a prison term of one to 10 days and a fine of 300 to 10,000 CFA francs ($0.45 to $15).
The agency in a Facebook post said there had been “vigorous” raids by its agents in Bamako on Tuesday night, culminating in “about 50 individuals in prison and a large amount of seized material.”
It published photos of young men and women being taken away in the back of pickup trucks and a picture of a pile of water pipes.
“The grace period given by the authorities for importers, distributors, sellers and consumers of shisha in Mali is over,” the OCS said.
Mali is a Muslim-dominated country and interpretations of Islam are generally unfavourable to cigarettes and to shisha. The ban has divided opinions in the country.
A working group of the World Health Organization (WHO) warned in 2017 about the danger of shisha smoking.
The practice is up to 10 times more harmful than cigarettes but is not targeted by the same awareness campaigns as with tobacco, it said.
Shishas, or hookahs, typically burn tobacco flavoured with fruit to provide a sweetened taste. The smoke is inhaled in through a long rubber tube, passing through water to cool it down. “Shisha” is also the term sometimes used for the tobacco product.
