Thank you for printing the excellent article “Battle against smoking should be won” (The Jordan Times, January 29, 2014).
The writer’s points regarding the importance of GAM finally enforcing public smoking bans and doing away with smoking narghile are clear and well reasoned.
Indeed, it is the responsibility of all government to create the safest, healthiest environments for all citizens, especially young children.
These rights certainly override individual desire to spread smoke around and poison everyone under the false belief of freedom.
It is the right of all citizens to be free of smoke in public, and for parents to not worry about their children breathing second-hand smoke.
The specious argument of “economic rights” of citizens to run smoking places must come after the economic cost, to all Jordanians, of health-related smoking diseases.
I hope that The Jordan Times will follow up on the enforcement of this law in public places.
The responsibility for enforcement should be with the management of malls, hotels, restaurants and all public spaces.
In addition, I suggest a “name and shame” hotline where citizens can take pictures of people smoking in no-smoking areas and send them to be posted publicly.
Fining people for smoking in public places would be an excellent way for the government to raise revenue.
At the moment, it seems that the only idea Jordanian authorities can come up with to raise money is to increase the price of phone cards to double the actual cost of the phone credit.
Taxing law-breaking smokers would be a welcome relief to all.
Wendy LeBlanc,
Amman
