Mich. hookah fanciers fume about smoking ban

[The Straight Story]

Mich. hookah fanciers fume about smoking ban

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) -- The main thoroughfares of this Detroit suburb, like those of many Michigan cities, aren't as busy as they used to be. Thousands of jobs shed locally by the Ford Motor Co. have forced smaller businesses to shutter and left fewer customers for those that remain.

Yet there is one bright spot - a bustling stretch of Warren Avenue where Mideastern-style cafes, markets and shops provide a taste of Beirut or Damascus for one of the largest Arab-American communities in the nation.

This scene is now clouded by a new state law that bans a popular feature of the local eateries - the hookah, or Arabic water pipe filled with flavored tobacco.

Come May 1, when the law goes into effect, Dearborn's cafes will have to choose between serving food or allowing smoking. Hookahs will be welcome only in specialty tobacco stores.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_HOOKAH_BARS_HARD_TIMES?SITE=WBBMAM&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Thankfully we have people who can make choices for us adults. Or body, their choice. Works for me.... :sarcasm:

[Motown_Johnny]

1. it is more complicated than that and you know it

The law is meant to protect workers from being exposed to second hand smoke.


All they need to do is section off part of their establishment into a specialty tobacco store and allow customers to bring in food from the other section.


This isn't a big deal.

[The Straight Story]

2. Larger companies I can see, but bars and such? nope.

Bar down the street the owner, his wife, staff all smoke. Their business.

There is such a thing as going overboard.