North Carolina - smoking ban does not allow hookah bars to operate - RIGHT..


June 15, 2009 - The new law that will prohibit smoking in bars and restaurants as of January 2, 2010, does not allow hookah (argileh nargile, hubble-bubble, water pipe, hooka, shisha, goza, meassel, sheesha) bars to continue to operate, and it needs to stay that way.

Hookah pipe use carries many of the same health risks as cigarette smoking, including being linked to lung cancer and other respiratory diseases. Hookah users expose themselves to dangerous levels of cancer-causing chemicals, hazardous gases and nicotine.

Hookah bars aim to attract the 18- to-24-year-old age group, and they are succeeding. These new hookah users are at risk for becoming habitual cigarette smokers; one study found that teen hookah users are eight times more likely to experiment with cigarettes.

The goal of this smoke-free legislation is to protect public health. Allowing hookah bars to continue to operate violates that goal.

Demetrius Harvey, Manager, Mission Services and Advocacy, American Lung Association in North Carolina, Raleigh

Reference: Dangerous hookahs, Demetrius Harvey, 6/13/2009.

Related news briefs: North Carolina smoking ban includes banning hookah bars..;
A couple general hookah related news briefs: Hookah smoking popular among college crowd..; Hookahs on college campuses becoming growing public health issue..
Related North Carolina smoking ban news briefs: North Carolina Governor Purdue signs smoking ban law..; North Carolina - legislators approve smoking ban..; North Carolina - smoking ban scaled back again..; North Carolina Senate Health Committee votes for stricter smoking ban..; North Carolina House poised to pass smoking ban..; North Carolina - ban on smoking in public places passes 1st test...

1 comments:

  Unknown

June 16, 2009 at 1:27 PM

What if the governments mandated that all currently smoke-free hospitality venues MUST provide a smoking section to accommodate smokers, against the wishes of business owners who choose
to go smoke-free of their own free will?

That wouldn't be fair, would it?
Neither are government mandated smoking bans.