Morocco likely to adopt public smoking ban

29/07/2008

The Moroccan Senate is reviewing an anti-smoking bill that would ban smoking in certain public places and prohibit the sale of cigarettes to people under 18.

By Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Rabat – 28/07/08

[Sarah Touahri] A draft law that would ban smoking in a number of public places made its way through the lower house of Parliament last week. The bill is likely to become law in October.

Morocco appears set to toughen its anti-smoking legislation, with the lower house of Parliament unanimously approving a bill on Wednesday (July 23rd) which would ban smoking in public places and bar the sale of cigarettes to anyone under the age of 18. The Senate is expected to pass the measure during its October session.

According to a statement issued last Thursday by the legislative body, the bill is aimed at reinforcing the legal measures to prevent tobacco smoking, filling the legal gap that the absence of sanctions represented, and protecting citizens' health, particularly that of youths and minors. Fine enforcement will also generate additional financial resources for the government.

"The law is in the national interest. It will be passed by senators without delay and then enforced immediately," Istiqlal Party President Latifa Bennani Smires told Magharebia.

She explained that the law effectively limits the harmful effects of smoking by introducing penalties for public smoking and cutting tobacco advertising.

The new law will affect public buildings, offices, schoolyards, and cafés and restaurants with floor areas of no more than 50 square metres.

The bill also imposes fines. Smoking in a public place will incur a fine of 100 dirhams and double that for a repeat offence. The penalty will rise to 500 dirhams for those in charge of public places who themselves break the law.

Fines of up to 10,000 dirhams will be incurred by cigarette manufacturers if packs fail to carry health warnings.

Under the new law, sales of cigarettes to minors will incur a fine of 2,000 dirhams and 5,000 dirhams for repeat offences. Vendors will also risk losing their tobacco sale licences.

Half of all proceeds from the fines will go to NGOs working to raise public awareness of the dangers of smoking.

The new initiative, which many hope is sufficiently severe to convince people to stub out their habit en masse, has drawn widespread praise from healthcare professionals who point to nationwide studies indicating the severity of the smoking problem in Morocco.

According to a survey by the Ministry of Health, nearly 35% of men over age 20 are smokers. Another survey has shown that over 15% of schoolchildren between 13 and 15 years of age are smokers. The age at which they begin varies, with almost 13% starting by the age of 15.

"It's high time they passed a law like this," Dr. Sellam Mbarki told Magharebia. "The number of cancer patients is rising because of tobacco. Some of them are passive smokers and suffer the consequences of being in a smoke-filled environment. We now know of a whole host of serious diseases caused by tobacco," he said.

Still, the bill has met with vociferous opposition from some quarters. Among the most outspoken critics of the proposed legislation are the owners of cafés and restaurants, who are anxious that the new law will hurt their businesses.

Selmane Bhiri, who runs a café, anticipates that his business will plummet when the law is enforced. "80% of my customers are smokers. When the law comes into force, I’m expecting my turnover to fall by 90%," he complained.

Some smokers are less pessimistic. 15-year-old Mourad says that the law will not cause him any problems because he will stock up from retailers: "The public smoking ban doesn’t bother me because I smoke in secret anyway."

"As for getting hold of cigarettes," he continues, "I’ll be able to get them from the young people who find work selling cigarettes on street corners."

With more than 15 billion cigarettes smoked every year, Morocco is one of the largest tobacco-consuming countries throughout the Mediterranean basin.