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Dearborn Tightens Restrictions On Hookah Cafes

DEARBORN (AP) - A Detroit suburb with numerous hookah cafes is making moves to restrict and regulate them.

Officials in Dearborn say they plan to work with cafe owners during the next six months on complying with new rules. The City Council in the heavily Arab community passed an ordinance this month designed to limit the number of smoking lounges to 15 and require the businesses secure a state exemption to the 2010 law prohibiting smoking in places that sell food, the Detroit Free Press reported Sunday.

The ordinance also requires that customers must be at least 18 and prohibits loitering. The establishments are banned from opening within 1,200 feet of another cafe or less than 700 feet from a school, child care facility or park.

Critics say the water pipes cause health problems and tobacco addictions.

Observant Muslims in the community don't drink alcohol, so some gravitate toward hookah cafes to socialize and relax.
Rashad Bazzy, who owns two hookah cafes, said it's not fair to go after a law-abiding business that invested money years ago.

"I don't want to be at a threat of being shut down by the city," he said, adding that the use of herbal products instead of tobacco should be exempt under state laws. The non-tobacco alternative is made from sugar cane.

Council President Susan Dabaja said no business will be shut down immediately and discussions continue.

The city last year enacted a 180-day moratorium on new hookah cafes or cigar bars, and has 15 state exemptions for smoking lounges, which Mayor John O'Reilly Jr. said is the highest of any Michigan city.

O'Reilly said he's not interested in growing that number.

"I think there was a feeling among some that we don't want to become the hookah capital," he said.

© Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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