Hookah owners gasp at proposed law revision

Legislation could mean shops would be subject to indoor air quality rules

By Mara Stine

The Gresham Outlook, Apr 21, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (19 Reader comments)

Owners of hookah shops could see changes in their business if proposed legislation is approved in Salem.

Tribune File Photo

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A local senator is proposing a statewide ban on hookah bars to protect the health of young adults who frequent the trendy establishments.

Sen. Laurie Monnes Anderson, D-Gresham, sponsored Senate Bill 974, which defines cigar bars and smoke shops. Under the smoke shop definition, the bill reads “is not a hookah bar,” which is defined as a business at which customers pay to smoke tobacco from a communal pipe.

By specifying that a hookah bar is not a smoke shop, it’s no longer exempt from the state’s Indoor Clean Air Act, which took effect Jan. 1. The act banned indoor smoking in restaurants, bars and other public establishments, in part to protect employees from breathing second-hand smoke.

But according to the expanded smoking ban, indoor smoking is still allowed in establishments that don’t sell alcohol in which at least 70 percent of revenue is derived from tobacco. And that fits the definition of hookah bars.

“There are 11 of them (hookah bars) in the state of Oregon right now and they’ll probably be expanding,” Monnes Anderson said. “And the tobacco industry is looking for all kinds of ways to promote tobacco. … It’s definitely a health issue.”

Boston and Seattle have banned hookah bars, but Monnes Anderson doesn’t know of any states that have.

The majority of Oregon’s 11 hookah bars/lounges are in Portland, but others have opened in Milwaukie, Beaverton, Corvallis and Springfield. The newest one, Narah Hookah Lounge, opened in Gresham last month.

Monnes Anderson said she wants to stop new one’s from popping up and is open to grandfathering in the existing lounges. Or possibly phasing in the ban to give current lounges a window to close within. She also wants to prohibit anyone younger than 21 from entering hookah bars. Now most allow those 18 and older.

The Senate’s judiciary committee will hold a hearing on the bill Friday, April 24. Because it’s so late on the legislative cycle, Monnes Anderson doubts the bill will pass, but she hopes it initiates a conversation and sets the stage for possible approval in the 2010 session.

If the committee does approve the bill, it would be forwarded to the Senate and the House for approval.

Monnes Anderson said she’s not trying to be tough on business and even stopped by the Narah Hookah Lounge last weekend to tell the owner, Shady Yasin, about the bill.

“Even though he has the best of intentions, it is a public health issue,” she said. And as a nurse, that’s her top concern. “This is a popular thing with the younger set, and they don’t look at the health effects at all.”

Yasin, who owns Narah Hookah Lounge with his sister Lara, plans to travel to Salem on Friday morning to testify against the legislation.

“There’s a slight percentage of nicotine,” he said of the tobacco smoked in his lounge. But he could switch to a nicotine-free variety if necessary, he said.

As for prohibiting those 20 and younger from hookah bars, that totally mystifies him. His establishment doesn’t serve alcohol, which one must be 21 to legally consume, and one must be only 18 to buy cigarettes.

Besides, it’s important to him to provide a place for 18- to 20-year-olds to go in East Multnomah County. The lounge provides a mellow, safe environment for older teens to hangout without getting into trouble.

“If parents don’t want their teens to come here, where would they rather have them go?” Yasin asked.

Some local business owners, residents and politicians voiced concerns about the lounge when it opened, but Yasin explained that critics most likely are not familiar with such establishments or the product smoked.

“It’s not about the smoking, it’s about the perception,” he said regarding the opposition. “Why is it not accepted here? Why is it accepted in Washington County, Beaverton, Multnomah County, Clackamas County, Milwaukie and Corvallis, but not in the city of Gresham?”

He’s beginning to wonder if discrimination is to blame.

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