Article 2 of the Saudi Anti-Smoking Law

المادة 2 من نظام مكافحة التدخين

The article defines smoking as the use of tobacco and its derivatives, in any product containing tobacco and by any method, such as cigarettes, shisha, chewing and tucking.

Official text (Arabic)

This article has not been amended since the law was issued.

يقصد بالتدخين تعاطي التبغ ومشتقاته، ويشمل ذلك السجائر والسيجار والجراك والتنباك والمعسل وأي منتج يدخل التبغ في مكوناته، سواء تم ذلك عن طريق السجائر أو السيجار أو الغليون أو النشوق أو الشيشة أو المضغ أو التخزين أو أي طريقة أخرى .

This is the official Arabic wording, the only legally binding version. We do not translate the law itself; the explanation below is ours. Official source: Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers

Article 2 explained in plain English

This is the definition article of the law, and it sets the meaning of "smoking" to which its provisions apply. The definition is very broad and rests on two elements:

The substance used: tobacco and its derivatives, including cigarettes, cigars, jurak, tombak and mu'assel, and any product containing tobacco.
The method of use: it does not matter how the use takes place; the definition covers cigarettes, cigars, pipes, snuff, shisha, chewing, tucking, and any other method.

The practical result is that smoking under this law does not mean only lighting a cigarette. It also covers shisha, mu'assel and jurak, and even forms with no smoke at all, such as chewing, tucking and snuff, as long as the product contains tobacco.

This definition sets the scope of the remaining articles of the law: wherever the word "smoking" appears in any provision of prohibition or penalty, it means smoking in this broad sense. The definition also ties in with the aim of the law in Article 1, which is to reduce smoking "of every kind." As for products that contain no tobacco, the article does not mention them, and their status cannot be determined with certainty from this text alone.

Practical example

Khaled in Riyadh was in the habit of chewing a product containing tobacco, believing that the Anti-Smoking Law is limited to cigarettes. But the definition of smoking in this article covers chewing and tucking, so his conduct falls within the scope of the law and its provisions.

Translated from our Arabic explanation with machine assistance. For guidance only; it does not replace advice from a lawyer on your situation.

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