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Hookah lounge hopes to open in Newark by Oct. 30  

Two local men hoping to build a hookah lounge in Newark received approval from the Newark Zoning Board of Appeals on Thursday to continue the project.

The board ruled the lounge, which will be at 143 S. 30th St., could be considered a place of assembly in a medium intensity business district and is permitted under the city's zoning code.

The lounge, which will be called Braison's Hookah Lounge, will have the atmosphere of a coffee shop, but instead of coming for food and drinks, patrons will come to smoke hookah, co-owner Adam Gregg said. . . .

The owners have been passing out fliers on campuses and using Facebook and MySpace to advertise.

"I'm scared for the opening. I've got a feeling we are going to be slammed with customers," Gregg said.

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• Bay Area hooked on hookah 

Across the Bay Area and nation in recent years, hookah lounges have become increasingly popular gathering places for college students too young to drink legally, transplanted Middle Easterners looking to indulge in a familiar pastime and even for veterans of the Iraq war, who learned to enjoy hookahs while overseas. The practice is believed to have originated in India and spread to the Middle East hundreds of years ago.

Hookah lounges in the Bay Area tend to cluster around universities such as Stanford, although there are many in San Francisco - from the Tenderloin to the Haight-Ashbury. High-tech workers and engineers such as Mohammad Aldossary, 25, a Stanford graduate student in petroleum engineering from Saudi Arabia, enjoy them, too.

"It's more fun to be in the social atmosphere here," he said at Da Hookah Spot. "I don't smoke cigarettes, but I smoke from a hookah pipe once or twice a week."

The lounges are often classified as tobacco shops, allowing them to get around California's 1998 statewide ban on smoking in bars. Most cities prohibit the sale of food in such establishments. The sale of nonalcoholic beverages, however, is typically allowed as long as they do not make up a significant portion of revenues, and alcohol is prohibited, according to officials at the city attorney's offices in Palo Alto, Hayward and San Francisco.

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Worth ban to snuff out smoking lounges 

In January, the Friends Cafe and Lounge in Worth will be history. Likewise for three other smoker-friendly lounges after the Village Board voted last week to expand the state's indoor smoking ban to include establishments in business only to welcome smokers.

Citing federal anti-smoking initiatives, Worth officials concluded that smoking is bad for smokers and secondhand smoke endangers nonsmokers.

But Friends Cafe owner Ala Alsherbini insists the new law is a power play by Worth politicians to extinguish his business for good.

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Assad decrees Syria smoking ban 

Syria's president has issued a decree banning smoking inside cafes, restaurants and other public spaces.

The decree also outlaws smoking in educational institutions, health centres, sports halls, cinemas and theatres and on public transport.

Workers must not smoke during meetings and businesses need to provide well-ventilated areas for smokers.

The restrictions include the nargile, or hubble-bubble pipe, which is a favourite among locals and tourists.

The decree, signed by President Bashar al-Assad, a qualified medical doctor, imposes a fine of 2,000 Syrian pounds ($46) on those who break the ban.

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• Syria bans smoking in public places  

The decree, signed by President Bashar al-Assad, sets a fine of 2,000 ($46) Syrian pounds on anyone flouting the ban in cafes, pubs and restaurants, the SANA agency said.

The ban extends to schools and public transport, and covers the nargile

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Sorry, hookah bar, no smoking 

The College Station City Council decided Thursday not to make an exception to the city's smoking ordinance for a hookah bar.

Hookah Station in the Northgate district had requested an exclusion from the city ordinance that was revised early this year to prohibit smoking in workplaces, bars and bar areas. Exceptions to the ordinance included specialty tobacco stores and actors or actresses participating in a theatrical performance

Attorney Davis Watson, speaking on behalf of Hookah Station, said the smoking ordinance didn't define a specialty tobacco shop. When the store came to the city, its owners were assured that they wouldn't be included in any smoking ordinance, Watson said.

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Worth waves goodbye to hookah bars 

Worth village trustees on Tuesday adopted an ordinance that bans smoking in all businesses starting next year.

Citing health concerns and recent legislation signed by United States President Barack Obama, Worth trustees voted 5-0 to approve an ordinance that will ban smoking indoors at all businesses including smoke shops and hookah lounges. Trustee Lezley Zubaty was absent.

Included in the wording of the ordinance is a plan to phase out hookah bars as business licenses expire.

The “Indoor Clean Air Policy” follows the “Smoke Free Illinois Act” that went into effect January 1, 2008. The statewide smoking ban outlawed smoking at bars and restaurants, but lighting up was still legal at businesses people would go for the sole purpose of smoking, such as tobacco shops and hookah lounges. The village policy is set to take effect January 1, 2010.

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Sheesha caf's to be shut 

SHEESHA coffee shops on Manama's Al Fateh Corniche are to be closed, to make way for a BD8 million leisure development.

Rules restricting the sale of sheesha at coffee shops elsewhere in the Capital Governorate are also to be soon revised to make them more realistic, say councillors.

Sheesha was banned in certain coffee shops across the country in July last year, but this was suspended a few days later, after a U-turn by municipal officials.

They instigated the ban under regulations dating back to a ministerial decision in November 2006, which also outlaws sheesha smoking in public parks, gardens, on coasts, beaches and corniches.

Coffee shops within 200 metres of homes, hospitals, embassies, educational institutions, government establishments and places of worship are banned from serving sheesha, under the law.

Other regulations insist that coffee shops should instal proper ventilation and meet safety and hygiene standards, before being allowed to serve sheesha.

The 200-metre rule is unrealistic and will be revised

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WU hookah bar owner hosts freedom event  

Smoke clouds billowed from the variety of patrons smoking at the Petra Café and Hookah Lounge on South Grand on Sept. 23. Scents of watermelon, lemon mint and "Threesome," Petra Café's original mix of tobacco, lingered in the air.

However, the day was not just for the regulars of the café to converse and collude as usual. The day was set aside as a place for an event to bring awareness to the encroaching smoking ban the Missouri government is attempting to enforce. "The Hot Box of Freedom" event was created to rebel against the ban in which flavored tobacco would be included as illegal to smoke in public. Co-owner and senior broadcasting major at WU Michaela Garcia said she believes this would ultimately mean an end to her only source of income.

"This ban would include all flavored tobacco, which is the number one thing that we sell," Garcia said. "What we are trying to do with this event is stop the government from telling us what we can and can't do. If we have one bad habit, and it's smoking, we should be allowed to do it."

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MENIFEE: Panel bristles at hookah lounges 

As far as Menifee planning commissioners are concerned, hookah lounges are out and tattoo shops are in.

On Tuesday, the Planning Commission directed city officials to craft one ordinance that would ban hookah lounges from opening in the city and another that would allow tattoo establishments to set up shop in Menifee ---- albeit with a litany of regulations.

The discussion was prompted by the City Council in February placing temporary moratoriums on the controversial businesses so that city leaders could study whether they wanted hookah lounges and tattoo shops here. Before the issue goes to the council for a final decision, the matter is being hashed out by the 2-month-old commission.

All but one commissioner came out strongly against allowing hookah lounges in the city, citing health concerns, the city's image and future complications with the businesses if marijuana were to be legalized.

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• Sheesha smokers at high risk of catching virus 

Sheesha smokers could be contributing to the spread of the swine flu, it has been claimed.

According to the Bahrain Anti-Smoking Society, sheesha pipes are an ideal tool for users to catch the virus since they are often passed from person to person.

'This is a real threat and all sheesha users should be careful,' said society vice-president Dr Kadhem Al Halwachi.

'We have already been told smokers are at an increased risk of getting complications from the swine flu because a smoker's lungs are already compromised.'

Health officials last week added smokers to a list of 'high risk' individuals who could contract the H1N1 virus.

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Hookah Haze 

Relatively new, legal and easily accessible, hookah has become a popular pastime for college students around the United States, Texas Tech being no exception.

From fuzzy navel to citrus mint, hookah is available in several flavors of shisha, which is the mixture of tobacco cured in flavored molasses.

"My favorite flavor is social smoker," said Mike Hayford, a junior psychology major from Flower Mound, "which is a mix of blueberry and blue mist. It has a citrus taste."

And a social smoker he is. Hayford said he is attracted to hookah because it is a great opportunity to sit around and socialize with friends.

It is largely perceived to be harmless because warnings against the practice are not as prevalent as they are with other tobacco products and hookah is legal. However, new studies have produced statistics that counter this nonchalant view.

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Roof Smoking Snuffed, Hookahs Ignited 

There'll be no butts on the rooftop at Toad's Place, but smokers may soon be puffing on pineapple-flavored herbs from hookahs on Chapel Street.

Such was the result of two separate votes by the Board of Zoning Appeals during its monthly meeting on Wednesday night.

First, the board voted to approve Ajim Khan and Zahed Sarwar's (pictured) plan to open a new hookah lounge at 900 Chapel St., next to Starbucks and across from the Green. Then the board voted to deny a request from Toad's nightclub to build a roof deck for cigarette smokers. . . .

Young entrepreneurs Ajim Khan (at left in photo) and Zahed Sarwar (at right) had more luck with their application to the BZA. The received a unanimous vote of approval to open a tobacco- and nicotine-free smoking lounge on Chapel Street.

The new business will be named La Sheesh, which means "the place of hookah" in Arabic. It will be a South Asian-style hookah lounge where customers can get a water pipe for two and select from among many varieties of flavored herbs to smoke. . . .

Weber wanted to know what exactly Streever would be smoking.

"Herbs," Sarwar said.

"I don't like that word, but OK," Weber said.

After selecting the flavor of herb that he would like to smoke, Streever can "have a seat and enjoy the music," Sarwar said. "We'll go in back and put it in a water pipe. He'll smoke out of it for half an hour."

Each herbal experience will cost between $18 and $20, Sarwar said.

Per health regulations for a smoking lounge, La Sheesh will not serve food or beverages but customers can bring their own.

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Straight Talk: No matter the flavor, hookah still means tobacco  

Dear Straight Talk: My 17-year-old son just left for the hookah bar. He said this is a popular social activity where you sit around outdoors smoking flavored tobacco from a shared water pipe. . . .

Maureen, 17, Redding: Hookah bars are the new place to be in college towns and urban areas. Some have non-tobacco hookah for those under 18.

Dear Oroville: The info from the panel is correct.

However, to clarify a couple of points: Most hookah lounges do not offer non-tobacco hookah because smoking dried leaf matter (unless that leaf is tobacco) is a tough sell no matter how much candy and flavorings are pounded in.

I can safely bet that your underage son is smoking flavored tobacco.

Secondly, despite what most of the panel perceives, smoking hookah is NOT a safe, non-addictive alternative to cigarettes.

Hookah has been smoked for centuries in the Middle East and the same maladies reported with cigarettes abound, including nicotine addiction.

Hookah is smooth, tasty — and extremely deceptive. It’s still tobacco with all tobacco’s problems.

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HAYES: Big trouble in ‘Little Cairo’  

When the UK government decided to impose a blanket smoking ban in enclosed workplaces and some open public spaces in England in July 2007, it wasn’t just pubs that were affected. Many cafés that depended on the revenue from the rental of shishas – water-filled pipes through which flavoured tobacco is smoked – were also affected by the ban. Many of these cafés were unable to accommodate smokers outside and were forced to close.

However, the remaining cafés are reportedly flourishing. For example, the cafés in areas such as London’s ‘Little Cairo’ in Edgware Road are attracting a wider clientele than ever before who want to try out the pipes. Predictably this has caused concern amongst authorities that refuse to tolerate anything that may be seen as detrimental to health, no matter how enjoyable it is. The UK Department of Health now seems to be on a mission to ‘enlighten’ users about the dangers of shisha smoking.

While acknowledging a lack of an evidence base, the World Health Organisation (WHO) stated in 2005 that the shisha should be included in smoking bans . . .

Many people I spoke to emphasised the ‘social experience’ of smoking shisha while conversing and relaxing with friends. But what about concerns, such as those voiced by representatives of the NHS Stop Smoking service, that tuberculosis or other diseases could be passed on via the shisha pipe. ‘People aren’t stupid, they just give it a wipe’, the Lebanese woman said. ‘It’s not like sharing syringes, is it? Will the government be giving advice on kissing next?’

The rise of shisha smoking in the face of concerted anti-smoking campaigns is deemed to be a deeply negative trend by authorities intolerant of people choosing to do anything that is considered unhealthy. This is despite the positive social experience and cultural traditions attached to shisha. What’s wrong with people enjoying a smoke in spite of the negative side effects it might have on their health?

Despite many generations smoking shisha before them, shisha smokers are now cast as ignorant in the light of this new evidence base and in need of the ability – given to them by authorities - to make an ‘informed’ choice. Which, given the ever-tightening government restrictions on smoking, looks increasingly to be the choice not to partake at all.

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