The National Authority for the Campaign against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (Nacada) acting CEO John Muteti has admitted that despite the ban, shisha is still very rampant, especially in entertainment joints in the country.
“Shisha was banned by the Ministry of Health by a Gazette notice, and we will find that it is very rampant, especially in upmarket areas like Kilimani, Westlands and such,” Muteti said.
He expressed concern that the shisha which is being sold to customers is laced with hard drugs thus making those using it get hooked.
“To add more potency the people selling the shisha add marijuana, bhang, heroin or cocaine so that one can continue smoking and get hooked because you are feeling more high than normal,” he said.
“So we are saying that because it is already an illegal substance as far as Kenya is concerned, we are also carrying out serious enforcement to enforce such."
There has been concern that owners of the high-end joints who are well connected always frustrate the enforcement officers who make arrests.
Muteti, however, believes with the current political goodwill, all those involved will be dealt with irrespective of their rank in society.
“It will even be far much better to send a signal that nobody is above the law and that you cannot continue selling these things which are banned just because you are ‘who is who’ and we are very determined as an authority to enforce such irrespective of your level.”
On December 27, 2017, Kenya implemented a comprehensive ban on shisha, including the use, import, manufacture, sale, offer of sale, advertising, promotion, distribution and encouraging or facilitating its use.
Despite the ban, shisha is still widely sold in the country, especially at nightclubs, and is popular among socialites and sportspersons.
Kenya became the fourth country in East Africa to prohibit shisha after Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda.
Shisha is a glass-bottomed water pipe in which fruit-flavoured tobacco is covered with foil and roasted with charcoal. The tobacco smoke passes through a water chamber and is inhaled deeply and slowly.
Experts warn that a single shisha session is the same as smoking hundreds of cigarettes.
According to the World Health Organization, the volume of smoke inhaled in an hour-long shisha session is estimated to be the equivalent of smoking between 100 and 200 cigarettes.
