Calgary eyes ending smoking exemptions for hookah bars

The City of Calgary wants the public’s input on if and how it should strengthen smoking and vaping rules.

Water pipe smoking — commonly known as hookah — is the focus of the city’s goal to tighten smoking and vaping regulations in workplaces and public spaces. The city, alongside Alberta Health Services, has been researching the health consequences of smoking shisha, the herbal mixture or tobacco blend smoked in a water pipe.

Bader El-Rafih, manager of Oxide Hookah, a Calgary-based online business that’s been selling water pipes and other hookah accessories for five years, is concerned about what changes could mean for business. His greater concern, however, is the impact they would have on the hookah community.

“When you compare water pipes to other vices that others might socialize with, such as drinking beer or smoking marijuana, water pipes are more of a traditional, cultural aspect of Middle Eastern culture, African culture and even Eastern European culture,” said El-Rafih.

“The Muslim and Arab groups in Calgary don’t go to bars or smoke marijuana because it’s against their religion. So what they do is go out to smoke water pipes and often it isn’t to smoke tobacco. But other diverse groups are allowed to drink or smoke weed.”

Matt Zabloski, business strategist with Calgary Community Standards, said the World Health Organization has recommended the use of water pipes be prohibited in public places. According to Zabloski, municipal governments in Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa have taken actions to prohibit its use and Edmonton is working on a ban now. 

Smoking in indoor places has been banned since 2007 in the province, however, some exceptions have been made for water pipe smoking. There are more than 30 lounges and bars in Calgary where shisha is currently offered and smoked. Zabloski said the city has been working with many of these places to understand the impact this might have on the businesses.

Dr. Brent Friesen, medical officer of health with AHS, said smoking shisha in confined spaces is particularly dangerous, and that one session of water pipe smoking has been found to be equal to smoking 40 to 100 cigarettes.

“Smoking shisha is not a safe alternative to smoking cigarettes,” Friesen said.

El-Rafih understands there are health concerns with smoking shisha but he said that comes with the territory of other “social vices” as well.

“You would be restricting a certain cultural group from doing something that they want to do. If you’re smoking hookah, the health effects include second-hand smoking and you might get a headache if you’re not hydrated, or the area is not ventilated properly. Whereas if you’re having a beer and you drive, you can cause a death or crash, same with marijuana. Hookah doesn’t do that to you.”

The city is also requesting feedback on prohibiting smoking and vaping in public spaces, public events and hotel/motel rooms. This would be a step towards protecting employees and visitors to these places from having to experience second-hand smoking, according to Angeline Webb, the regional manager of health policy with the Canadian Cancer Society.

“We want to make sure smoking behaviours aren’t normalized in public spaces,” said Webb.

People are encouraged to offer their feedback to the city on their website engage.calgary.ca/smokingvaping.

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