JEDDAH, 28 September 2004 — More than SR14.4 billion goes up in smoke annually in Saudi Arabia. The voluntary anti-smoking committee in Makkah estimates that 15 billion cigarettes are smoked every year by Saudis and expatriates. Dr. Ali Al-Suhaifi, a member of the committee in Makkah, told Al-Eqtisadiah newspaper that 8 million of the population are regular smokers. He said that the committee surveyed 322 high school students and discovered that 41 percent of them are smokers. According to the latest World Health Organization report Saudi Arabia ranks 23rd in the consumption of tobacco products. The report showed that Yemen topped the list of women smokers with 29 percent.