An American in Jordan

We all tend to scoff when it comes to enforcing smoking laws and regulations in Jordan.  It’s especially funny when they announce on the airplane upon arrival to Queen Alia International Airport to refrain from smoking until passengers get to a designated smoking area inside the terminal (scoff, scoff).

Just not long ago, the Jordan Times was scoffing about a $300,000 campaign to raise public awareness about smoking laws that were already in place but lack enforcement.  And I made a comment about how I’ve seen people blatantly smoking in hospital waiting rooms and no one does anything about it.

Yesterday I was at Khalidi Hospital after not visiting for about 3 months.  They had made some renovations down in the emergency waiting room, but the biggest improvement was when doctors and security guards approached a young woman and demand that she stop smoking.  After putting up a valiant fight with some loud, boisterous arguing, the woman finally succumbed to the pressure and put out her cigarette.

Bravo to Khalidi Hospital for finally enforcing what should have been enforced long ago.  No matter how much they think they do, people don’t have the right to smoke in private facilities, especially ones that have “No Smoking” clearly marked.