Related News
Shisha and e-cigarettes banned in Cambodia
Print Edition
Cambodia has banned e-cigarettes and shisha pipes saying the increasingly popular products contain damaging levels of nicotine and are leading young people to take up smoking.
The National Authority for Combating Drugs (NACD) ordered authorities to immediately cease the import, use and sale of shisha tobacco and pipes and e-cigarettes across the country, according to a directive issued on Wednesday.
The NACD said that while neither is classified as a drug, they contain high levels of nicotine that “affect the health more seriously than cigarettes.”
In recent years, wealthy young Cambodian smokers have turned to shisha lounges, especially in the tourist hubs of Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.
Shisha, also known as hookah or hubbly-bubbly, is a Middle-Eastern tradition of smoking flavoured tobacco via pipes and a water bowl.
E-cigarettes — battery-powered devices that simulate smoking by vaporizing a solution containing nicotine — have won a small but growing customer base in Cambodia.
The directive ordered the confiscation of shisha tobacco, pipes and e-cigarette paraphernalia, saying young people are distracted from their studies by socializing over a shisha.
The move prompted dismay from businesses serving shisha. Lem Oudom, manager of The Sands shisha lounge in the capital, said the ban was “unfair” as the fruit-flavoured tobacco does not contain illicit drugs.
According to a 2005 study by the World Health Organisation (WHO), water pipe smoke contains high concentrations of toxic compounds and potentially addictive levels of nicotine.
The WHO has advised against e-cigarettes, saying the health risk “remains undetermined.”
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
