No smoking: How one city is cutting the hookah haze

For years, this kingdom has struggled to kick the habit.

Going cold turkey was out of the question; not even a fatwa, or religious edict, could shame people into putting out their cigarettes in public.

No government office or police station would be complete without a haze of smoke, or desks littered with cigarette-stuffed coffee cups. Wedding hosts who failed to serve cigarettes to guests on a silver platter were considered rude. Public service announcements and images of diseased lungs stamped on cigarette packets did little to slow down the nation’s nicotine intake. Raising cigarette prices twice failed to do the trick.

Jordan is home to the second-highest smoking prevalence in the world,