A former Kenya Member of Parliament has called on the government to follow in Rwanda’s footsteps and ban shisha smoking, local Star Newspaper reports.
The former Naivasha MP John Mututho – also a former chief of the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) – lamented the high number of youth in the country who are addicted to shisha smoking.
He is reported to have said the drug can easily be lased with cannabis and heroin, and as such should be banned by the government.
“Little is known about the composition of Shisha consumed locally, especially the possibility of adulterated with prohibited substances,” Star quotes him to say.
While serving in NACADA, Mututho rallied for stringent laws against alcohol and drug consumption in the East African nation.
During his stint there, he introduced laws stipulating drinking hours as well as the introduction of the Alcoblow device which can test drivers’ blood alcohol content.
Mututho is reported to have also said that pipe sharing during the smoking of shisha could lead to spread of infectious diseases like TB.
He singled out major towns as the main regions where shisha smoking was rampant, including the capital Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Eldoret, Kilifi and Malindi.
