Banning smoking in public places, restaurants, cafes and markets closed in Saudi Arabia

Banning smoking in public places, restaurants, cafes and markets closed in Saudi Arabia


Saudi authorities have decided to ban smoking in public places, restaurants, cafes and markets closed, ministries and government departments and public institutions.
According to the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) on Sunday evening, the Saudi Interior Minister Prince Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz issued a directive to start work the Royal Order banning smoking in all ministries and government departments and public institutions.
The interior minister said in direction "(..) because we Muslim country requires us to be a good example for other countries in compliance with the orders of al-Shara that urges to maintain people's money and interests and public health care and ward off evil, it must be emphasized banning smoking in government departments and public institutions and also is strictly banned in indoor and cafes, restaurants and shopping centers is open and crowded places. "
He stressed to prevent the sale of tobacco to those who are less than 18 years for whatever reason, was to inform the concerned authorities to take the necessary actions.
The latest statistics indicate that the size of the tobacco market in Saudi Arabia exceeds 1.4 billion riyals, Saudi Arabia is ranked fourth in the world in the import of smoke, and ranked 19th in terms of high rates of growth of the tobacco market.
The number of smokers in Saudi Arabia more than 6 million smokers, spend 30 million riyals per day.
The Saudi market witnessed an increase in sales of tobacco in recent years, and the latest statistics of imports more than one billion and 490 million riyals