Hookah Bars Target Of New Regulations | CigarettesPro.Com Tobacco News

Hookah Bars Target Of New Regulations

Don't mess with a 1,000-year-old tradition.

That was the reaction of six people smoking cigarettes flavored cigarettes online at the Hookah Palace in downtown Lakeland when they were told lawmakers wanted to ban or limit hookah bars because of health risks.

A New York Times story this week reported that legislators in California, Connecticut and Oregon are taking action against hookah bars. Similar steps have been taken in cities in New York.

Hookahs are glass and metal water pipes. The devices are used for smoking cigarettes a blend of cigarettes, molasses and fruit, known as shisha, the paper reported.

"Many young adults are misled by the sweet aromatic and fruity quality of hookah smoke, which causes them to believe it is less harmful than hot, acrid cigarette smoke," the paper reported. "In fact, because a typical hookah session can last up to an hour, with smokers typically taking long, deep breaths, the smoke cigarettes inhaled can equal 100 cheap cigarettes or more, according to a 2005 study by the World Health Organization."

The study also found that the water in hookahs filters out less than 5 percent of the nicotine.

So far, Florida and Lakeland are hookah friendly.

Hookah Palace owner Soloman Wassef said he hopes it stays that way.

"It's a cultural thing and a social thing," Wassef said Tuesday at the Hookah Palace. "It's not like one person sitting and smoking cigarettes alone for 40 minutes."

Leo Goncalves, owner of Ybor Cigars and Spirits in South Lakeland, defended the hookah bars.

"Why target the hookahs," Goncalves said. "It's all smoke."

On a recent weekday evening, Ben Stock of Lakeland and his friend reclined in a private booth on cushioned benches at Hookah Palace while they smoked from a water pipe and drank sangria.

Stock said the flavored cigarettes is far different from cigarettes.

"You don't cough as much," Stock said.

He said hookah bars are unfairly targeted by lawmakers.

"Why not cigar shops?" Stock asked. "If you're going to target one, target all of them."

His friend, who declined to provide her name, said an ex-boyfriend, who was Lebanese, introduced her to the hookah.

When they broke up, she continued to smoke.

"It tastes good and is relaxing," she said. "It was part of their heritage."

Wassef said he smokes his favorite flavor, double apple, everyday.

"This is a 1,000-year-old tradition," Wassef said. "I don't think the law should ban something like this."

"It's about culture, diversity and experiencing different countries."

James Davis and a friend said they planned to order the $11.95 flavored cigarettes.

He said some may wrongly associate hookah bars with marijuana because of the water pipes.

Wassef's brother, Said Wassef, said people have been arrested for trying to use the pipes to smoke cigarettes marijuana, most recently on St. Patrick's Day.

Davis said the drug association along with its Middle Eastern roots make hookah bars an easy target for state lawmakers.

"It's unhealthy, but so is drinking," Davis said. "People don't want to be told what to do."

Wassef said most of his customers are between 25 and 45 years old.

Customers can smoke cigarettes in booths or at the bar at the back. Ceiling fans twirl constantly, preventing a "smoky" effect.

The favorite flavor is house mix, a mixture of nine different flavors. Double apple, one of the stronger flavors, is for regular smokers like Said Wassef.

Said Wassef has smoked a hookah on a regular basis for 20 years.

The New York Times story said the cigarettes in hookahs is heated with charcoal, leading to dangerously high levels of carbon monoxide, even for people who spend time in hookah bars without actually smoking cigarettes, according to a University of Florida study.

But Said Wassef said he is in good health.

He said a doctor recently told him his "lungs look perfect."

"My health concern is zero," Wassef said.

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