Creating tobacco-free environments and reducing access to tobacco are proven strategies for tobacco control. They are known to reduce tobacco addiction at the population level.
Smoking is only permitted in certain smoke shops and cigar bars. These few businesses were allowed to permit smoking within their public areas in the Indoor Clean Air Act, which was passed in 2007. The smoke shop exemption was crafted by legislators to allow limited sampling of tobacco products.
Removing the exemptions for cigar bars and smoke shops is in line with public health goals and Oregonians’ expectations. In fact, of the original fourteen certified cigar bars, five stopped operating during 2009,reportedly due to customer complaints about secondhand smoke.
Unfortunately, this exemption has created a legal loophole for smoking lounges that cater to young adults. This is an unintended consequence of the smoke shop exemption. As of February 2011, of the 21 certified smoke shops in the state, 17 operate solely as places to purchase and smoke cigars or hookah. Additional smoke shop applications are pending, a majority of which intend to operate as a hookah lounge.
Hookah is a form of tobacco smoking using a heated water pipe, common in Middle Eastern cultures. However, in Oregon and elsewhere around the country, it is being promoted to young adults, ages 18 to 24, especially college and university students.
TPEP and county health departments have received a number of calls from concerned parents and community leaders regarding hookah. Due to recent alarming increases in documented hookah use among Oregon youth, the exemption that allows public indoor Hookah smoking is particularly concerning. For 11th graders, hookah use rose from 7.9 percent to 10.8 percent between 2008 and 2009. Most of this increase came from female users, whose usage rate climbed from 7.2 to 11.9 percent. [1]
Although those younger than 18 are prohibited, young adults can enter certified smoke shops, and parents and members of the community have expressed concern that these establishments are serving minors. Smoke shops that serve hookah frequently offer a variety of fruit-flavored tobacco for smoking in water pipes, making the products more appealing to youth and young adults. Hookah smoking is at least as hazardous as smoking cigarettes.
[1] http://public.health.oregon.gov/PreventionWellness/TobaccoPrevention/Documents/tobfacts.pdf
