I am writing with regard to the article “Tough measures needed against smoking and smokers” (Sep. 9). It is said that at one end of a cigarette is fire while at the other end is a fool. This is true because only a fool would burn his hard-earned money on cigarettes and then lose the battle of health for nothing. Spending SR16.5 billion on smoking annually in the Kingdom, as the article reports, is simply madness and a criminal act. Mahmoud Ahmad, the author of the article, has done his job and provided a great service by bringing the problem to focus and highlighting the ills that smoking brings along with it. It is now up to the authorities to act and to act fast. Faiz Al-Najdi, Online response II. You should look at the life of Saudi youth. They don't have much to do in the way of amusing themselves. Young people are looking for something exciting to do and sadly by prohibiting enjoyment they will look for it elsewhere as in smoking and even worse in many cases. Banning smoking now will simply drive our kids to more extreme behavior. When you take away something with one hand you must give something else with the other. KB, Online response
