A long thin pipe with a tiny transparent bottle of tobacco, kept in colorful
cases, has been seen with the majority of Dubai's residents nowadays, both young
teenagers and adults. Dokha, not only gives a stronger effect than cigarettes
or shisha, but also explains its Arabic name and makes one feel dizzy from just
one intake.
Bola Shokry, a twelfth grader in Al Noor private school said, “I smoke
dokha almost everyday in school mainly because I like its strong effect, and
what encourages me is that my friends go with me. We go between classes and
during break without the fear of getting caught, as one of us is always
standing outside the bathroom to make sure no teachers are around.”
Dokha has been famous in most outdoor areas like parks and cafes. However,
it has increased rapidly in several schools in Dubai. Bola added joyfully, “There
are many different types of dokhas, and each person chooses it according to
what he wishes. Which one you buy depends on your mood, and also how much
dizziness you can withstand.”
Smoking centers have increased at a very quick pace in the past two to
three years. To add to that, it’s clear that smoking itself has increased in
the desert country, not only between locals, but also among various other
cultures. According to Mehdi Rezaye, a medwakh seller at the Yousuf Reda chain
for medwakhs and shisha, “We sell around 70 to 80 dokhas per day. This number
has increased a lot in the past few years and I’m positive that it will
continue to rise because teenagers are finding it a trend now, and enjoy it.”
Mehdi then added while arranging the different medwakhs in order of
sizes, “We mainly get local Emiratis, Indians, and Iranians; and although the
majority of our customers are males, we do get females buying medwakhs every
once in a while."
While smoking behind one of the buildings at the university, Mohamed
Youssef, a freshmen at the American University in Dubai, said “I’ve been
smoking dokha for around seven months. I personally prefer it over cigarettes
because just one puff gives you a much better effect than many puffs from a
cigarette.”
Mohamed seemed to know a lot about smoking. He did not like cigarettes,
but enjoyed shisha, and added, "After trying shisha, and loving it like
most teenage boys, I saw a friend of mine smoke medwakh and I was motivated to
give it a try. It gave me self-satisfaction. I tend to smoke during my happiest
moments, and also during my moments of depression."
Ali, an old shopkeeper at
Ashkanani supermarket says, "The municipality rarely visits us and so we
are not afraid to sell medwakhs here to anyone. Moreover, medwakh is not
illegal in Dubai." He confidently pulled one off the shelf and complained,
"We will not stop selling medwakhs! Life in Dubai is expensive; we cannot
afford to lose a whole lot of customers."
