Winnipeg to study how other cities regulate hookah lounges

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This article was published 28/02/2023 (1141 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The City of Winnipeg will explore new rules and safety standards for hookah lounges due to air quality and health concerns.

On Tuesday, council’s community services committee directed staff to report on how other cities and provinces regulate hookah use and offer regulations that would govern local businesses.

In traditional hookah use, the multi-pronged water pipe can be used to smoke shisha, a mixture of tobacco and molasses, sugar or fruit. The practice is common in the Middle East and India, for example.

While the Manitoba government has banned smoking and vaping tobacco in indoor public places, Winnipeg restaurants are able to operate as hookah lounges by offering customers the ability to smoke tobacco-free shisha.

However, multiple organizations have advocated for the practice to be banned in public, over concerns all types of it threaten air quality and people’s health.

The Lung Association of Manitoba says there is no safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke.

The report is due in about seven months.

—Staff