Under ISIS rule in Syria, smoking could lead to a death sentence

Beheadings? A-OK. Smoking? Not so much.

A lot of things are forbidden by the Islamic State in Syria, but smoking might be the hardest vice for people to quit in a country where it's so widespread — the World Health Organization estimates that about half of all Syrian men and 1 in 10 women are smokers. Very conservative variations of Sharia law consider smoking a dragged out form of suicide, the Los Angeles Times reports, and ISIS has closed down water-pipe cafes and tobacco stores, and punished smokers with at least 40 lashes and sometimes even death.

It's also difficult for ISIS members to kick the habit. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that last month in Al-Mayadeen, the severed head of an ISIS deputy police chief was found with a cigarette between its lips and a note attached to the corpse that read, "This is not permissible, Sheikh." In France, Flavien Moreau returned to his home country after spending just two weeks with ISIS in Syria. He wasn't disturbed by the cruelty and violence, but the lack of cigarettes, France24 says. "I really struggled with not smoking," he said at his trial on terrorism charges. "I had brought Nicorette gum with me, but it wasn't enough. So I left my gun with my [commander] and I left."

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