Ottawa Board of Health votes to tell city to ban hookah smoking in public places

The OttawaBoard of Health voted Monday night to ask the city to ban hookahs and other waterpipes from being smoked in public places, buthookah bar operators continue to oppose the move, saying itwouldhurt their businesses and their culture.

If passed by council, the banwould make it illegal for any workplace to allow people tosmokepipes, includinghookahs, either inside or on outdoor patios.

SinbadRestaurant and Cafe owner Ahmed Shendi says the proposal will be bad for business and the cultural fabric of his community.

"It's going to be a bigger problem for the culture here, the Arabic culture," he said.

Bab el Hara CafemanagerHaiderEl-Cheikh agrees, sayingthe vast majority of his restaurant's clients come to smoke and socialize.

"The whole thing is cultural. There's so many different cultures that smoke it," he says. "They're all into it and that's what brings people together: they order shisha and they talk."

'It's becoming more widespread'

Ottawa Public Health's Gillian Connelly, manager of health promotion and disease prevention, sayssmoking shishahas been gainingpopularity, and that itnormalizessmoking. About50 per cent of people age 18 to 24 have tried it across all cultural denominations, she said.

"I know people are hearing that it's cultural or believe that it's cultural, but it's becoming more widespread," Connelly said."In addition, there are a number of countries that you would presume that it would be cultural that are also banning it. So we're following suit with a number of those countries."

In her presentation Monday nightshe told the boardthatLebanon, Turkey and parts of Saudi Arabia have banned smoking hookah in public places. A similar bylaw recently come into effect in Toronto.

Tobacco-less shishaincreases the risk of cancers and heart disease because it introducestar, carbon monoxide and other toxins into the lungs just like cigarettes, even though there's no nicotine, she said.

Shendiis notconvinced the new rules would mitigate the health risk. He says it would lead to more people smoking at home instead of in a designated place and could put children and the elderly at risk of exposure to second-hand smoke.

Both Shendi and El-Chiekh say they'rewaiting to see what happens when council votes on the ban in August and will try to focus on the restaurant side of their businesses.

If the ban isapprovedit would come into effect Dec.1 and enforcement would beginJan.1, 2017.