BURAIDAH/DAMMAM: Cigarettes are back on sale in stores in Buraidah and other towns in Qassim for the first time since the municipality ban 16 months ago, following a missive permitting the move from the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs. According to the missive, the Ministry of Interior had advised a gradual introduction of prohibitions in order to allow the various authorities involved in the fight against tobacco, including the National Committee to Combat Smoking, to seek involvement. The Municipal Council of Buraidah banned the sale in urban areas of cigarettes at local shops and supply stores in July, 2009, a ban that included sites offering shisha pipe tobacco, hoping to make Buraidah a “smoke-free town”. The sale of tobacco in other areas of Qassim was also prohibited to persons under the age of 21. Opponents to the ban in urban areas said at the time that the problem would only be transferred to the outskirts of cities and instead called for more extensive awareness campaigns and the imposition of a ban on smoking in public places. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry, meanwhile, has issued a ruling banning the sale of cigarettes to all persons under the “legal age” in residential areas. Chambers of Commerce across the Kingdom were informed of the measure Saturday in instructions that, while not including the sale of other tobacco-related products, urges greater efforts to combat “an increase in smoking”. While the ministry decision contained no reference to a specific legal age, a World Health Organization agreement on combating smoking signed by the Kingdom sets it at 18 years old.
