BAMAKO, Aug 24, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - "Shisha-abana," exclaims Bilal, a grocer in

Mali's capital Bamako, in the national language Bambara: "Shisha is
finished."

His is a common reaction.

An unexpected ban on hookah smoking in this West African country has stirred
surprise as well as division, leaving devotees dismayed but health advocates
delighted.

Bars where small groups of smokers -- primarily young men -- hang out to chat
and puff on water pipes have flourished in Bamako in recent years.

Mali is an overwhelmingly Muslim country, and interpretations of Islam are
generally unfavourable to cigarettes and to shisha.

But it is also a secular nation that tolerates alcohol, even if consumption
is limited to certain public places and most shops and restaurants do not
serve it.

Shishas, or hookahs, typically burn a tobacco flavoured with fruit to provide
a sweetened taste. The smoke is inhaled in through a long rubber tube,
passing through water to cool it down. "Shisha" is also the term sometimes
used for the tobacco product.

The government's sudden decision on August 15 to ban shishas took many by
surprise -- the ruling junta, in power since 2020, had not been particularly
known for its concerns about tobacco.

The law, co-signed by six ministries, including the ministry of security,
health and youth, "prohibits the importation, distribution, sale and use of
shishas (water pipes) or any similar device throughout the national
territory".

Any shisha smoker will be punished with a prison sentence of one to 10 days
and a fine of 300 to 10,000 CFA francs ($0.45 to $15.00).

Shisha bars have six months to close.

The authorities did not provide any reason for the ban.

But in his shop in the centre of Bamako, Abdramane Daff is fuming as he shows
off his pile of stock.

"We can't sell all this in six months, it's impossible", he said.

"We beg (the authorities) to look for another solution -- maybe they could
limit themselves to banning consumption in the streets and spare shisha
sales".

- 'Thank you' -

On the consumer side, there are questions about the authorities' ability to
enforce the decree.

"Is it possible to stop smoking shisha for good?" asked one occasional smoker
on condition of anonymity.

Measures such as the closure of restaurants during the Covid-19 pandemic had
little effect in a country where many businesses are informal and law
enforcement resources are limited.

On social networks or in conversations in street hangouts in Bamako, the news
was rather well received.

"Thank you for the ban on shisha in Mali, I think we should now ban
cigarettes as they are also a drug!" posted Abdoul Karim Maiga on Twitter.

"I think the decree is very important," Ousmane Toure, a representative of
the association of tobacco victims, told AFP.

"In terms of mortality and disease, if we took into account shisha and
tobacco, we would see that frankly it is better to stop," he said.

Salif Kone, a tobacco specialist, points to a study conducted in schools in
Bamako showing that "about 70 percent of young people use shisha".

- Health risk -

A working group of the World Health Organization (WHO) warned in 2017 about
the danger of shisha smoking.

The practice is up to 10 times more harmful than cigarettes but is not
targeted by the same awareness campaigns as with tobacco, it said.

It is "up to us, the doctors, the parents of these children, to combine our
efforts with those of the government to (make them) stop using shisha", Kone
said.

Countries such as Saudi Arabia and Lebanon have taxed shisha consumption.
Others, including Jordan and Cameroon, have banned it.

In Mali, where free speech has been increasingly threatened since 2020, few
critical voices have been raised apart from shisha bar managers.

"Was this the most urgent thing, when our country is in the grip of a multi-
pronged crisis?" asked one social scientist on condition of anonymity.