Smoking Ban Might Extinguish Hookah Bars
March 3, 2009 by admin
Gov. Tim Kaine is expected to sign into law a smoking ban that could put many hookah bars out of business, including establishments near Virginia Commonwealth University’s Monroe Park campus.
The General Assembly has passed a bill to prohibit smoking in all public indoor restaurants and bars except those with a separately ventilated smoking section. Unlike other states, Virginia would not exempt hookah bars, which sell flavored tobacco smoked from a water-filled pipe.
Gassum Chater, manager of Sahara, a hookah bar on West Grace Street, was surprised by legislators’ decision to ban smoking in restaurants and bars.
“I think they are selling their heritage. This is a state that has survived on tobacco. Even if they don’t sell as much, it is still part of their history,” Chater said. “They fail to realize that there are a lot of people that are living off of tobacco.”
Since smoking is essential to their business, hookah bar owners will be forced to make renovations if they want to stay in operation.
Kaine, who worked with General Assembly members on the legislation, still could amend or veto the bill. However, the Democratic governor has called the legislation “a reasonable and necessary public health measure.”
Gordon Hickey, the governor’s press secretary, said Kaine plans to sign the ban as is.
“This is a bill about people’s health. So for that reason, he does not intend to amend the bill,” Hickey said. He said hookah bars “will be able to do the same thing as any other restaurant” if they want to comply with the law.
Kaine has said he pushed for the ban because “the dangers of secondhand smoke are undeniable.”
The General Assembly has considered smoking bans several times. Those previous attempts served as warnings for hookah bars.
“This whole issue has been up in the air for a long time,” Chater said. “Any business like this is very naïve if they don’t prepare for it.”
Sahara, which contains both a table-filled lobby and a larger lounge, might be able to make the necessary changes to accommodate the demands of the bill, Chater said. But smaller hookah bars in Richmond and other Virginia cities could find the ban more burdensome.
Whatever the case, Chater remains hopeful that hookah bars might be able to sidestep the smoking ban.
“With any law, there is a loophole for a businessman,” Chater said. “We’ll find one.”
Jacob Vaughan is a VCU Journalism student and submitted this story through Capital News Service.
I thought that bill had been weakened so that they could simply ban children in their establishments and keep on smokin’.
What do you care about hookah bars, Trevor?
The bandwagon of local smoking bans now steamrolling across the nation has
nothing to do with protecting people from the supposed threat of
“second-hand” smoke.
Indeed, the bans themselves are symptoms of a far more grievous threat, a
cancer that has been spreading for decades throughout the body politic. This
cancer is the only real hazard involved – the cancer of unlimited government
power.
Loudly billed as measures that only affect “public places,” smoking bans
have actually targeted many privately owned places such as bars and shops –
places whose owners should be free to ban smoking or not and whose customers
are free to patronize or not. Outdoor bans even harass smokers in places
where others’ health is obviously not the issue.
The decision to smoke or to avoid “second-hand” smoke, is a question for
each individual to answer based on his own values and judgment. This is the
same kind of decision free people make regarding every aspect of their
lives. All lifestyle decisions involve risks; some have demonstrably harmful
consequences; many are controversial and invite disapproval from others. but
the individual must be free to make these decisions. He must be free,
because his life belongs to him, not to others, and only his own judgment
can guide him through it.
Yet when it comes to smoking this freedom of choice for a minority, is being
seriously limited by a majority made baselessly fearful through massive
media campaigns often funded by tax dollars.
The real threat we face here, no matter how strongly it is denied by the
anti-smoking lobby, is the systematic and unlimited intrusion of government
into our lives.
We do not elect officials to control and manipulate our behaviour. They are
in office to serve us, not vise versa.
For normal establishments this ban makes perfect sense and I totally agree with it. I hate sitting in a restaurant in a “non-smoking” section that is five feet away from ten people smoking.
That’s annoying.
But for a hookah BAR? People do not go to hookah bars and ask for the non smoking section.
I don’t enjoy hookah bars for very long because I don’t like the smoke, but if people want a place basically designated for doing just that, then I think they should be able to have it.
I guess that although I agree with this ban, I just don’t agree with it in its entirety.
Its is obvious the anti autonomy shills are well represented here and seeking to provoke the worst intentions among us. Tobacco taxes and the bans are an example of very poor moral integrity at work in the legislatures. Using a moralist stick to “Help someone quit smoking” is thin at best and certainly not the act of kindness that sold it. It is all about the money. Targeting the addicted, to serve the needs of the majority who don’t smoke is unforgivable. It is not much wonder normally law abiding and honest individuals are doing their duty by ignoring these foolish laws. The only risk in play here; would be to the most extreme levels in extreme durations, meaning a minor increased risk to a bartender 24-7 over a 50 year span. The general public by normal exposure is not at increased risk, or could they ever be considering the ingredients and the quantities. Cigarette taxes are regressive they target the poor and minorities the hardest. The Bans are promoted hate, much more than inclusive neighborly attitudes protected by a sign, promoting choice which was all that was ever required.
[...] Jerome under Uncategorized Leave a Comment A smoking ban went into effect today in Virginia. Even in hookah bars, I kid you not. I’d love to hear an argument in favor of that that does not wreak of [...]
I agree 100% with Thomas L.!
Th ban on smoking in bars and “public places” should be solely the owners and the patrons decision. Who is the government to tell us weather we can or cannot smoke? I do not necessarily believe in smoking cigars or cigarettes, but i will not be the first one to tell someone who does they cannot do it and neither should the government. If someone wants to risk their health on smoking that is there choice, but the government should not try to ban smoking bars because THEY think it is “un-safe” or “un-healthy” to the public. If it is so bad why don’t they just pass a bill to ban tobacco all together? and if someone is to complain that they don’t like the smoking, then they shouldn’t be in the establishment in the first place. Making the law that someone smoking has to be “100 feet” from the entrance serves no different to help someone avoid the second hand smoke. They still will smell it and inhale it while they are walking in. All in all i don’t believe this smoking ban is at all necessary and the people who complain need to just go somewhere else.
I’m glad they are finally passing a bill to protect people who dont smoke. Bottom line. Tobacco is only legal in the first place because its a cash crop. Now that its importance is no longer what it used to be, they can finally pass laws to protect peoples health, instead of just protecting income interests. Good riddance I say.