Tobacco.org

WHO calls for hookah ban in Delhi  

VIDEO: Hookah lounges could be unhealthy trend in Kern County 

Donna Fenton is the chief environmental health specialist for the Public Health Department in Kern County. She said the public has been misinformed about potential health issues, and she is concerned about the atmosphere in these establishments that could be luring young people in who can't get into bars that serve alcohol, yet.

Eyewitness News saw video games, disc jockeys, big screen TVs and a lot of room to dance when we went inside Flames Hookah Lounge during our investigation. Wesson said they do target the younger age group, because most of their clients are 18 to 21.

Hookah lounges are exempt from the smoke-free workplace labor code, meant to protect workers, not the general public or customers. Fenton goes on to explain, "If they do not offer food or beverage at that location, then they are exempt from having to keep it outdoors, so it can be indoors if they do not serve food or beverage."

She said they are also not required to have signed warnings of health effects, but they do have to have signs posted that they will not sell tobacco products or hookah pipes to anyone under 18.

Another health concern? People sharing the tip of the pipe

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• Hubble-bubble spells trouble  

Any smart-phone owner who subscribes to a certain major service provider and who happens to venture within a one-kilometre radius of Kampong Glam will automatically receive a message in the form of an 18-second video called "Idiot's Guide to Shisha".

In the video, a young man named Tony demonstrates, step by step, how to assemble and use a hookah. He also explains how shisha smokers can maximise the harm they are doing to their own bodies. Drawing deeply on the water-pipe, Tony notes sarcastically, gives you a much better chance of catching tuberculosis or whatever other germs may have been left behind in the mouthpiece by previous smokers.

The video ends by inviting viewers to access an extended, nine-minute clip which goes into detail about the dangers of shisha smoking.

This multimedia message sent to mobile-phone users in at the heart of the city's shisha hotspot is part of an anti-smoking campaign initiated by the Singapore Health Promotion Board (HPB). . . .

To make the anti-shisha drive more effective and to coincide with the 15th World Conference on Tobacco or Health, which Singapore hosted in late March, a group of youth advocates, both locals and foreigners, volunteered to work on a peer-to-peer campaign and distribute the Idiot's Guide to Shisha in Kampong Glam, where many of the city's shisha cafes are located. The leaflet contains colour illustrations intended to hammer home the harmful facts about hookah use.

It is the first time that a drive of this nature has been launched in Singapore where the import and commercial distribution of shisha tobacco is still legal. The campaign also focused on youngsters attending secondary schools and colleges since hookah smoking has grown in popularity among this age group due to myths surrounding the lack of harmful effects.

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• Rapid City hookah lounge gears up for court battle over South Dakota smoking ban, lawyer says 

A hookah lounge in western South Dakota is firing up for a court fight over the state's smoking ban by asking a judge Monday to block police from targeting the business until the case hits a courtroom.

Attorney Stephen Wesolick, who represents Ifrit's Hookah Lounge in Rapid City, filed a motion for a temporary injunction and asked that a judge forbid police from ticketing the lounge for selling tobacco products alongside wine and beer -- actions that a prosecutor has said violates the smoking ban.

In the meantime, the lounge has voluntarily quit serving alcohol even though owners believe that hookah isn't covered by the law, Wesolick said.

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Bursting hookah smokers’ bubbles  

O'Fallon to notify stores of limits on tobacco items 

O'Fallon officials plan to notify 50 to 100 businesses about a new law limiting the sale of "tobacco-related paraphernalia.

At least two businesses already say the ordinance will prompt them to remove some items from their shelves.

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Police hold off enforcing hookah smoking ban 

The Rapid City police chief held off enforcing the smoking ban at Ifrit’s Hookah Lounge on Sunday to keep from feeding the already volatile situation.

Pennington County State’s Attorney Glenn Brenner said on April 13 that he had determined the downtown hookah lounge was in violation of the state smoking ban and gave them 15 days to comply. Police chief Steve Allender said Sunday the enforcement of the ban would start Monday.

“I think (Sunday) is precisely the 15th day. I just didn’t want to continue that saga by having a misunderstanding as to what day is the right day,” Allender said. “We’ll check (Monday) and we’ll report the results and hopefully it will be over.”

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Hookah parlour raid: Court fines 44 

Alarming number of teens taking up deadly habit of smoking Shisha 

Pierce County tries to shutter hookah depot over smoking ban 

Cafe owner fined over basement shisha smokers 

Worcester City Council OKs hookah bar 

WORCESTER -- The owner of a restaurant/bar in Union Station has received a green light to operate a hookah bar there.

Without debate, the City Council last night approved an amendment to the city's tobacco control ordinance to allow a hookah bar in Union Station.

But the approval came by just a one-vote margin (6-5), two weeks after the council had unanimously voted to advertise the amendment.

The tobacco control ordinance prohibits any form of smoking at city-owned public buildings, including Union Station.

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Shisha no alternative to quitting smoking: expert  

Seventh Street hookah lounge closes 

Classified Hookah in downtown Rapid City closed Wednesday and is selling off its furnishings and hookah supplies, its owner said.

“We’re closed,” owner Trevor Schmidt said. “We’re shut down.”

The lounge at 524 Seventh St. in the historic Buell Building recently raised the ire of its neighbors, who complained that loud music and the smell of hookah smoke were penetrating the building, irritating them and driving away customers.

“We’re just looking to end the drama and relocate,” Schmidt said. He said he would probably take the business to Sioux Falls.

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Police chief: Hookah lounge enforcement could begin by month’s end 

Rapid City’s police chief said Monday his officers will start enforcing the statewide smoking ban at a local hookah lounge before the end of the month, barring a court injunction. . . .

Allender told the Rapid City Council of the department’s plans during an information item on Ifrit’s Hookah Lounge and a letter sent last week by Pennington County State’s Attorney Glenn Brenner.

In Friday’s letter, Brenner told the attorney representing the hookah lounge that he believed the business at 725 St. Joseph St. was in violation of the smoking ban and gave owners15 days to come into compliance with the law.

The law, which was approved by voters in November 2010, exempts retail tobacco stores from the ban as long as they generate 65 percent of their income from tobacco sales and do not allow alcohol consumption. Ifrit’s serves beer and wine.

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