Beware: don’t chew betel in Dubai

Paan is a preparation that consists of betel leaves, nuts of the Areca palm and spices like cloves and cardamom. Chewing paan is both a health practice (a breath freshener) and a cultural ritual (it is offered to guests in the same way that a cup of tea or coffee is offered in other cultures) in many South and Southeast Asian cultures.

Because the contents of the nut (Arecoline, Arecain and Guracine) and leaf (eugenol), paan serves as a mild stimulant just like coffee and tea. The addition of pieces of nicotine-laden tobacco leaves to paan can make it addictive. The thing about chewing paan is that it gives the saliva a reddish tinge. And since the paan has to be spat out after chewing, the user actually spits out a reddish mass of leaves, nuts and saliva.

Because of connections drawn between paan chewing and oral cancer in some studies, the habit is being discouraged. The authoritarian government of Myanmar tried and failed. Dubai, where the backbone of the workforce is made of Asians, takes a new approach not necessarily related to the cancer connection but has to do with health and sanitation nonetheless.

The municipality is considering deporting people who chew betel leaves.

It said yesterday that it was working with immigration authorities on a law under which people caught preparing or using betel – traditional in some Asian communities – could lose their residence rights…

The announcement was made by Hussain Nasser Lootah, the director general of Dubai Municipality, at the launch of an environmental drive in Bur Dubai. The purpose of the month-long campaign, which follows a similar drive in Naif last year, is to root out “unhealthy practices” and clean up the busier, more heavily populated areas of the city.

Last year the municipality announced that spitting betel juice would incur a fine of Dh500. However, Mr Lootah said offenders could soon be deported.

Already, 12 people have been deported for preparing and selling paan, and seven outlets had been closed. [The National]

Sale of paan in Dubai is illegal but an underground industry makes it widely available.