Health Ministry proposes increasing smoking fine up to JD100

AMMAN — The Ministry of Health has proposed increasing fines imposed on individuals who violate the Public Health Law by smoking in public places, and on owners of establishments that allow these violations, a ministry official said on Tuesday.

Malek Habashneh, head of the ministry’s awareness directorate, said the proposed amendments on the law have been sent to the Legislation and Opinion Bureau with more than one option to increase the fine.

Under the law, smoking is prohibited in hospitals, healthcare centres, schools, cinemas, theatres, libraries, museums, public and non-governmental buildings, public transport vehicles, airports, closed playgrounds, lecture halls and any other location to be determined by the health minister. 

The law also stipulates that any person caught smoking in a public place is subject to between one week and one month imprisonment or a JD15-JD25 fine. The same penalties apply to those who sell cigarettes to minors.

In the proposed amendments, the ministry presented several potential increases to the fine, up to JD100, Habashneh said.

He also told The Jordan Times that the authorities will not renew licences for cafés unless they abide by the regulations issued in April last year.

According to these regulations, he explained, a coffee shop can either stop serving food to be allowed to continue serving argileh, or stop serving argileh and only serve food. Under a third option, cafés should designate two separate areas, one to serve food and the other to serve argileh where smoking is allowed.

Of the 324 argileh-serving cafés in the country, 92 have provided a steering committee with their plans to abide by the regulations, while 105 were shut down for violating regulations and the rest are expected to provide their plans soon, according to the ministry official.