Familiar Smoking: When Society Loses Sensitivity to the Danger

Jordan is currently at a sensitive juncture in confronting one of the most dangerous and escalating health and social phenomena, which is the spread of smoking in all its forms among increasingly young age groups, at a time when Ministry of Health data reveals alarming figures that place the Kingdom in an advanced global ranking in terms of tobacco-related deaths.

As official and community efforts to enforce laws regulating the display and packaging of tobacco and nicotine products, and to prevent smoking in public places, are escalating, the term «normalization with smoking» emerges as the most accurate concept to explain what is happening; when the scene of smoking becomes part of the daily routine in the streets, cafes, and public facilities, children and adolescents lose their sensitivity to its danger, and it becomes a socially acceptable behavior rather than being viewed as a real health threat that requires confrontation.

Data from the Jordanian Ministry of Health for the year 2025 reveals that the percentage of deaths related to tobacco use in the Kingdom reached about 12.5% of total deaths, equivalent to one death out of every eight deaths, while this percentage globally does not exceed 10%, or one death out of every ten deaths. These figures place Jordan at a higher position than the global average in terms of the severity of the health impact of tobacco, which raises broad questions about the seriousness of implementing laws regulating the fight against smoking and protecting the most vulnerable groups.

In this context, Dr. Larisa Al-Wor, a founding member and secretary of the «No to Smoking» Association, explains that the core of the current efforts being implemented by the Association is to reduce the attractiveness of tobacco products in all their forms and types and the devices used for smoking, by activating the unified packaging law and expanding the warning images printed on tobacco and nicotine products from 40 to 65%, noting that the images currently used are over fifteen years old and have lost their effectiveness, which necessitates their periodic update.

Al-Wor adds that the unified packaging, which is devoid of any attractive features and is limited to the product name in a uniform font, is a key tool for breaking the attractiveness of these products, especially since some current shisha packages carry drawings and colors that closely resemble products intended for children, which increases the likelihood of young people being drawn to them.

She emphasizes that the flavors used, which in many cases mimic the taste of sweets and fruits, call for a complete ban as they are a direct factor in attracting young people to the first experience.

These concerns are consistent with other data issued by the Ministry of Health, which shows that the age group between 18 and 24 years represents the largest percentage among those who started smoking, accounting for 44.8% of the total respondents, followed by the age group between 15 and 17 years with 27.2%, meaning that more than 70% of smokers started this habit before reaching the age of twenty-five, at an age directly linked to school and university years.

Dr. Al-Wor directly links these figures to the importance of expanding the ban on smoking in public places, including tourist and religious facilities, noting that the presence of smoking everywhere reinforces in children's awareness the impression that it is a normal and socially acceptable behavior, while its gradual absence from the daily scene breaks this normalization and reshapes the general perception towards it. She adds that the recurring argument that banning smoking harms tourism does not stand up to studies, as ninety-seven studies conducted in eight countries have shown no negative impact on sales, profits, or employment, and some of these studies have recorded a positive effect in the form of increased income for establishments due to the reduction in absenteeism caused by illness and lower maintenance costs. Al-Wor concludes that protecting workers in the tourism sector, who, according to World Health Organization studies, are exposed to passive smoking rates of up to four to six times the levels of smoking in ordinary offices, remains an integral part of a broader battle, whose primary and ultimate goal is to protect children from falling into the trap of addiction.