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• Shisha smoking guidance 'needed' 

The smoking ban needs updating to offer shisha bar owners clearer advice, Harrow Council in west London has said.

The bars, where herbal tobacco can be smoked through a communal pipe, tend to have an awning open to the street.

But the law on outdoor smoking shelters means those with roofs should be at least 50% open, so air can circulate. . . .

As in any place of work, smoking is banned on the premises of all shisha bars, which are also known as hookah bars.

Councillor Susan Hall, Harrow's portfolio holder for the environment, said: "These cafes are becoming increasingly popular across London, but the legislation on smoking in public places wasn't framed with them in mind.

"It needs to be updated so all councils have clear guidance on what these cafe fittings should look like.

"We can then balance the right of customers to sit and enjoy the authentic shisha experience while continuing to deliver clean and safe streets."

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Milford hookah lounge again ordered to close 

MILFORD -- The city Health Department has ordered the Olive Tree Hookah Lounge to close, following an inspection of the premises on opening night Friday by city sanitarians.

Health Director Dennis McBride, saying the practice is like a "cigarette plus," said Saturday he based the order on the health hazards the practice presents. McBride said the owners have a right to appeal to the state, but he intends to enlist every resource possible to not only close the new Milford hookah bar for good, but also to close all others in the state based on the hazard.

He claimed the hookah pipe is unsanitary because it was found during inspection that sections of the hoses used for smoking cannot be adequately cleaned, increasing the potential for the spread of germs that can transmit diseases such as tuberculosis, hepatitis and more.

Inspectors also found the sweet aroma of the place because of spices added to the smoking material misleads people into thinking they're not smoking tobacco, when in fact they are, which contains the addictive agent nicotine. He also said there were no "menus" or listing of products and their contents available to customers.

"They target young people," McBride said.

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• Hookah lounges serve up culture, controversy  

Sky is apparently the first hookah lounge in Fairfield County and one of two in the region that opened this month. Trying to brew a new, culturally diverse pastime, the lounges unintentionally stoked up controversy and confusion among local and state officials who are mulling where they fit in with the state ban on smoking in public places.

The confusion is evident in the reactions of Fairfield and Milford's health departments -- both of which initially told the lounges not to serve food or alcohol on the premises but didn't bar them from opening. Fairfield approved the opening after an inspection.

Milford's department forced The Olive Tree Hookah Lounge to close June 19, about two weeks after it opened in a small shopping plaza on Bridgeport Avenue, citing state law and city ordinance.

However, the department rescinded that order on Friday, following an appeal by Olive Tree owner Sammer Karout and his attorney. . . .

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said his office wasn't consulted regarding the lounges and he'd been unaware of them until contacted by a reporter last week.

They seem "problematic" under state law, but he'd need to know all the details to know whether they're within legal boundaries, he said, adding that the smoking ban is typically enforced by local police.

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Health dept. closes hookah lounge again  

"Inspection of the operation not only confirms but deepens our concerns about health hazards posed by the practice of hookah smoking," Dr. A. Dennis McBride, City of Milford Health Director, said in a news release.

Olive Tree Hookah Lounge, located at 2007 Bridgeport Avenue, was closed for the first time June 25, 2009 after the health department rescinded its June 19, 1009 closure. Both closures state concerns about the public health hazards posed by hookah smoking.

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Hookah lounge reopens without permits 

After being shut down last week for potential health hazards, the Olive Tree Hookah Lounge reopened Friday night, without permission from the Health Department or permits to operate as a private club.

Owner Sammer Karout is appealing the Health Department's order to cease operation of his lounge, the future of which may be in jeopardy, pending inspections from health authorities and approvals from the Planning and Zoning Department.

"He shouldn't be open right now," City Planner David Sulkis said.

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Smoke Flies Over Milford Hookah Lounge 

A hookah bar in Milford went up in smoke last week, but not because it burnt down. The Milford Health Department shut down it down, but the owner has appealed and plans to reopen Friday night.

According to a news release from the Milford Health Department, the Olive Tree Hookah Lounge was closed because smoking tobacco through a water pipe is a "significant health hazard."

For those who don't know, smoking hookah is when you smoke flavored tobacco through a water pipe.

Salmmer Karout of Hamden is challenging Milford's attempts to block him from reopening his exotic smoking lounge featuring hookahs and belly dancers. He appealed the city's action and plans to reopen the club Friday night.

According to the World Health Organization, a typical one-hour session of hookah smoking exposes the user to 100 to 200 times the volume of smoke inhaled from a single cigarette.

Milford officials decided smoking is bad for you and felt the need to step in and protect the people who were making the choice to smoke hookah.

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Hookah lounges are growing in Baltimore area  

Two hookah bars, El Basha on East Baltimore Street and the iLounge on North Charles Street, have opened this year in Baltimore, and two more have opened in Towson over the last few years.

Click to see a full size version of the slideshow

The secret to the growing success of hookah is the timeless demographic for trendy nightlife -- college students.

"They think it's cool," said Mohammed Jadoo, co-owner of Arabian Nights. "A lot of people these days are finding out about it, and they've started liking it." . . .

However, there are always risks associated with smoking, even if it's tobacco-free.

"Any time that you're inhaling smoke into your lungs, there's an inherent risk there," said Michelle Bernth of the American Lung Association. "It's not right to think that just because you're smoking something natural, it's OK. Any time that you're inhaling smoke directly into the soft tissue of your lungs, you're putting yourself at risk."

Despite the risks, hookah is growing in popularity among college students.

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Hookah bar owners form association 

With a view to assisting the judiciary and police in curbing the menace of illegal operations at hookah bars, a few hookah bar owners in the city have formed an association and moved an application in the Gujarat high court, seeking to be a party to the suo moto proceedings against the illegally run hookah bars in the city.

Over a dozen hookah bar owners have come forward to curb the illegal activities of some entities in their fraternity. "We have formed an association with the aim to cooperate with the government authorities to curb illegal activities," said a member of the Hookah Bar Owners' Association. "We do not want to be targeted because of the scrupulous activities of others in the business," he added.

Only five hookah bars in the city have the official license to run their business. Others are either compelled to shut down or are running their bars illegally. "We will obey all the guidelines issued by the police commissioner, and will also inform them of any illegal activities we come across," the member said.

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Up in smoke: Milford hookah lounge shut down  

A local hookah lounge has been shut down, two weeks after it opened, by city health authorities concerned about the health hazards of smoking flavored tobacco through a water pipe.

The Olive Tree Hookah Lounge, in a small shopping center at 2007 Bridgeport Ave., offered communal smoking to patrons using large water pipes to puff "aromatic" tobacco mixed with fruit and herbs.

Owner Sammer Karout, an immigrant from Syria who owns a Middle Eastern deli next door to the hookah lounge, has hired a lawyer and is appealing the closure ordered under state and local laws that ban smoking in public places.

Karout said he went through all the proper channels and obtained a state permit before opening his lounge. He said he spent roughly $150,000 to outfit it with elaborate colored lighting, cushioned booths and low, wooden tables.

Before opening, he approached the city Health Department, talked to a sanitarian and was told he couldn't serve food or beverages within the hookah lounge, per state law banning smoking in public places effective 2004. But, he said, he was not told that he could not open the lounge.

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Owner, Milford at odds over reopening hookah lounge 

MILFORD -- The owner of a Bridgeport Avenue "hookah" club that features fragrant pipe smoking and belly dancers is vowing to reopen today, but city officials plan to take legal action if the doors open.

The Olive Tree Hookah Lounge was closed June 19 by the Health Department because the city claims smoking inside the club violates city ordinances.

But club owner Salmmer Karout of Hamden said the Olive Tree is a private, members-only organization, and therefore is exempt from city regulations.

Karout opened Olive Tree Hookah Lounge at 2007 Bridgeport Ave. in May, next door to his Middle Eastern restaurant. Club-goers pay to smoke "fruit-flavored tobacco" through a water pipe in a communal setting.

Karout appealed the city's action and plans to open the club tonight.

City Health Director Dr. A. Dennis McBride said the lounge was closed June 19 because of what he called the "significant health hazards" posed by smoking tobacco through a water pipe. . . .

There is festive music and "among the best belly dancers" entertain his patrons, Karout said. He said the lounge is "very classy."

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Hookah bar owner's dream up in smoke?  

A club owner is fighting the city of Milford because he said he wants to open a private, hookah club and they are not allowing it due to health concerns.

Since the "customer is always right," Sam Karout, who owns "Olive Tree Middle Eastern" restaurant in Milford, decided to take a chance on a new business idea.

"Many customers stop by asking about the hookah, if they could smoke a hookah, so the idea crossed my mind," he said.

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Why Are We Running This Story? 

Over the past couple of decades, the water pipe has become omnipresent in daily life. Smoking shisha is no longer just a characteristic feature of Ramadan nights or the fetish of a few.

Shisha, first introduced here some 200 years ago by the Ottoman Turks, has steadily transcended all strata of society, age group and gender. From its traditional strongholds in the countryside and modest tearooms, the contraption has made its way into the glitziest venues of luxury hotels across the country and onto the menus of the capital’s swanky restaurants.

Today, an increasing number are inhaling the molasses, including students, affluent professionals and even women. Is it simply a raging fad reaching its heyday? The result of smokers looking for a ‘safer’ or ‘less haram’ alternative to cigarettes? Or is it a growing addiction that is here to stay?

There is no one single answer to explain the astonishing spread of shisha, known in other parts of the Arab world as narguile, arguile or hookah.

“It is just a habit like cigarettes,” says Ahmed, a student from Nasr City, who says he smokes shisha only with friends at coffee shops. “It is a lot of work to prepare it at home,” he says. . . .

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, approximately 48 percent of the country’s adult population smokes. “Egypt has the highest rate of tobacco consumption in the Arab world,” writes Research Professor Heba Nassar of the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at Cairo University, in an in-depth paper entitled “The Economics of Tobacco in Egypt,” published in March 2003 for the World Health Organization Free Initiative.

The water pipe has a controversial ancestral past. . . .

Cigarette advertising has been banned from national television and radio since June 1981 under that year’s law number 52 “on the protection against the harmful effects of smoking.”

Contrary to the assertions of some, smoking shisha is hardly better for the body than cigarettes.

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What smoking ban? Hoopla over hookah 

QUIT VICTORIA has accused Middle Eastern cafes of exploiting a loophole in anti-tobacco legislation by allowing patrons to smoke tobacco water pipes inside premises, while cigarette smokers are forced outside.

Inner-city bars and nightclubs are also capitalising on the growing popularity of water pipes or hookahs among students, with more than 80 licensed venues offering "hubbly bubbly" to a younger clientele.

The Department of Human Services has exempted hookah smoking from strict tobacco bans introduced almost two years ago, despite World Health Organisation warnings that a typical 45-minute water-pipe session was equivalent to about 100 cigarettes.

"Unlike cigarettes and cigars, hookah products do not always contain tobacco and, in most instances, are made up of a mix of tobacco, fruit and molasses," a DHS spokesman said.

But Quit Victoria executive director Fiona Sharkie said all tobacco products should be treated the same way. She called for a ban on water pipes in all Victorian bars, cafes and restaurants.

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Living and breathing the hookah culture  

Having perfected his skills for making tobacco bowls out of fruit, Ramirez, 43, has made a name for himself as the go-to hookah guy in Los Angeles' Middle Eastern community. . . .

He came into the U.S. from Mexico in 1999. But he eventually obtained a work permit with the help of his employer, Phoenicia restaurant owner Ara Kalfayan. Now Ramirez is applying for an EB-3 visa reserved for "skilled workers."

On his application, under job description, Ramirez wrote: nargileh specialist. As his sponsor, Kalfayan wrote in the petition letter that Ramirez's "services are eminent for the success of our restaurant and the service provided to our patrons."

Immigration officials had never heard of such a job description, Ramirez said.

Soon after arriving in California, the former carpenter and factory worker found a job as a busboy at Alcazar, a Middle Eastern restaurant in Encino. . . .

Using fruit to make hookahs is common in parts of the Middle East but relatively rare in the United States, said George Egho, owner of Glendale-based www.thehookah.com, which sells pipe supplies.

"They do it in the Middle East all the time," Egho said. "It's pretty trendy."

One day Ramirez walked into the restaurant's kitchen and grabbed an apple. That's when he began experimenting

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• Smoking ban threatens hookahs  

In North Carolina, hookah bar owners are joining forces to save their businesses. In the coming weeks, they hope to persuade state lawmakers to make legislative exemptions for them similar to those granted cigar bars and country clubs that will allow smoking after the indoor ban takes effect Jan. 1.

They know of the health risks of secondhand smoke but counter that their patrons choose to come despite the hazards.

The disparity between cigar and hookah bars "just boggles the mind," said Hookah Bliss owner Adam Bliss -- yes, that's his real name.

"Look at who goes to those places -- generally older, affluent white males," he said. "Besides the fact that this law is creating an elitist association between who can smoke and who can't, they're allowing government to put me out of business, and this is supposed to be a free market economy here."

Unlike bars and restaurants, which still attract customers for drinks and food despite the disappearance of ashtrays, the hookah bars could lose the reason for their existence.

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