Tobacco.org

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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