‘There was no problem’: shops flout UAE law by selling cigarettes to under-18s

A 16-year-old bought cigarettes with ease in two supermarkets without being challenged to prove his age.

Many shopkeepers continue to sell cigarettes to adolescents even though doing so is illegal. Yesterday, Saif Al Tamimi, 16, with the approval of his parents, showed how easy it is for minors to buy tobacco products. Out of five places he tried, he was able to buy cigarettes from two. Mona Al Marzooqi / The NationalShow less

ABU DHABI // Some shops and supermarkets are still selling cigarettes to adolescents – despite the risk of being fined up to Dh10,000.

New regulations that came into force on Tuesday prohibit the sale of tobacco products to anyone under the age of 18.

Saif Al Tamimi, 16, with the approval of his parents, agreed to show The National the ease with which minors can get their hands on tobacco products.

Saif, an Emirati, went to the Carrefour supermarket on Airport Road to buy a packet of Marlboro Reds.

Minutes later he came back gripping the packet with its distinctive red and white wrapping.

“I said ‘excuse me, one Marlboro Red’. She did not say anything,” Saif said.

The female cashier did not challenge him to prove he was over 18, he said.

On Muroor Road, Saif walked into Alam supermarket and was again able to buy cigarettes – this time a packet of Dunhills - without showing proof of age and while wearing a school satchel slung over one shoulder.

“There was no problem,” said Saif, as he walked out of the busy shop with his cigarettes.

He had walked to the cashier and was asked which brand he wanted. His age was not an issue.

At a baqala shop further down the road, Saif tried to buy a packet of Marlboro Lights and was almost successful after pretending he was 18, he said.

Money had exchanged hands until the cashier asked for the product back after becoming suspicious about his true age.

Cigarettes are just one of the tobacco products that are popular with teenagers – despite the law forbidding any to be sold to adolescents.

Saif also attempted to buy dokha, a ground tobacco traditionally smoked in a thin pipe, at Ali Hawi smoking store on Muroor Road, but was turned away after failing to produce proof of his age.

“They asked me how old I was and I said ‘18’,” he said.

“They said ‘bring your ID to buy’. They told me they are responsible shop owners.”

The law gives vendors the right to ask for proof of age, although none of the shops visited had any clear signage warning adolescents that they would not get served – a common display in many countries in the West where underage smoking is strictly vetted.

Against smoking himself having seen a family friend die because of his tobacco addiction, Saif said he wanted the new law to have teeth to help curb adolescents from picking up the habit.

“Smoking is not good. I do not like it at all,” said Saif, who lives in Khalifa City B. “Yet you see them at school, they are 16, 15, and they are smoking.”

Last year, as it launched an anti-tobacco campaign urging youngsters to stub out the habit, the Ministry of Health revealed that a quarter of all smokers in the UAE had their first cigarette before the age of 10 and about 28 per cent of under-18s smoke.

Studies have shown that the younger someone starts smoking, the harder it is to kick the habit.

One of the key aims of the anti-tobacco law is to make it more difficult for teenagers to get their hands on cigarettes.

The legislation also makes it illegal to smoke in a vehicle when a child under 12 is present and bans tobacco advertising and promotion.

Advertisers who break the federal anti-tobacco rules could face fines of up to Dh1 million, while stores breaking the underage smoking rule risk a penalty of between Dh500 and Dh10,000.

Carrefour and Alam supermarkets could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.