Law enforcement agencies have raided more than six establishments and the campaign is continuing. According to well-informed sources, no neighbourhood is spared. For the moment, the police, during the night, have carried out a raid in Gautier, Maârif and Allal Ben Abdellah. Result: eleven people, including girls, have been arrested. The managers of the cafes and the owners of spaces where the ban on smoking "shisha" is not respected have not been spared. The latter risk a fine of 100 to 120 DH and the closure of the cafe in question. According to a representative of the public prosecutor's office, the sanctions imposed are not balanced with the nature of the offence. Nevertheless, the public prosecutor is trying to give more repressive sanctions than the closure of the place, especially when police officers seize "mâassel" mixed with drugs. The owners of the said cafes also risk up to 10 years in prison when it involves minors who use their space for prostitution.
Indeed, cafes that serve the hookah generally bring together a category of young consumers. "I see high school students and young female students entering this cafe every day. They come during the day. I am sure they are missing their classes to come and smoke the hookah," a woman living in the city centre next to a "shisha" cafe confides to us.
However, a circular from the Wilaya of Greater Casablanca prohibits the consumption of hookah in cafes and public places. Order No. 5 of 22 September 2004, decreed by the former Wali M’hammed Dryef, was supposed to put an end to a phenomenon widespread at the level of the economic capital. Which is not the case currently. The water pipe is sold everywhere, whereas the implementing circular prohibits the water pipe from being served in public places, except in large restaurants and tourist establishments authorised to serve this product. Nevertheless, some establishments refuse to comply with this decision, especially since it is thanks to shisha that they build customer loyalty and increase their revenue.
"Shisha" contains 4,000 toxic substances. The gentle combustion of hookah tobacco, which lasts 60 minutes, against 5 minutes for a cigarette, generates more carbon monoxide and tar. Chemical analysis of hookah smoke has shown that the levels of nicotine, tar, and phenols are lower than those of a cigarette, but hookah smoke contains 10 times more carbon monoxide (CO), known to cause serious cardiovascular and cerebral complications.
Shisha enthusiasts expose themselves to the charcoal used, which releases carbon monoxide (CO). This gas binds to haemoglobin instead of oxygen, and this is how the haemoglobin carried by the blood will bring carbon monoxide to the various cells of the body rather than the essential oxygen. This water pipe causes the same diseases as those due to cigarettes: lung cancer, laryngeal cancer, chronic bronchitis, cardiovascular diseases, tuberculosis, in addition to viral herpes and hepatitis. Furthermore, the shisha ritual is all the more dangerous as it involves risks of disease transmission through water, poor oral hygiene, given that it is based on sharing the hookah.
- Some targeted cafes
- Point Central
- Kan Ya Makan
- Widad
- Appolo
- Octavia
- Montparnasse
