Those Darn Police.

[MAJIKVEGGIE]

I guess if I don't have anything nice to share I shouldn't share it; but I can't hold my toung very well, so the story goes as thus: I was sitting in the park smoking my hookah, waiting for a colleague of mine to arrive so that we could work on advertisements for hookah night & the lounge. I knew something was up because the park was just packed with familys doing family things. (I felt a little out of place.) Then the cops show up & I knew that they had recieved a complaint (It's amazing how ignorant some people can be.) So I talked to the officer & explained to him that I'm a businessman trying to advertise tobacco products. I gave him one of the flyers I had been working on & told him about the time the chief of police asked for hookah photos for my tobacco licence. I even offered to leave the park & he said that I could stay if I put my hookah away, so I did. He said that advertising tobacco products in a park is a bad Idea & I told him I hadn't looked at it that way before & that I can be a little nieve at times (Which I can be.) So I guess now I can't smoke my hookah in the park! What will I do for the fourth of July?

[Big Boss]

Just be glad they didn't give you any more shit. I once had the cops called on me for smoking a cigar.

[Dom]

you offered to leave? i wouldn't have done that.
if he had asked me to put it away, i'd ask him what law dictated it. if there was a law that said that you can't smoke tobacco in the park, then okay. it's a law, neither he nor i have any control over that. but if it's just because some soccer mom saw it and thought it was drugs, then i would have told that cop to find something better to do. i wouldn't take any shit from those ingorant pigs. as long as i was within the law, i would have stayed and loaded another bowl. we have rights, damnit!

[hookah hippie]

I pretty much would have went with what Dom said it is just as much your park as it is anyone else's enjoy the park

[r1v3th3ad]

ya, I'm in on what dom said...not a damn thing they can do...its 100% legal and you can sue if they arrest/confiscate...

[dom209]

i had the cops called like a week ago cuz i was smoking IN MY GARGE WITH THE GARAGE DOOR OPEN!!!! some people need to just shut up and not jump to conclusions... dom im with you, when the cops came 1 explained wat it was and then moved my smoking party to the front lawn... fuck the nosey neighbors

[speel]

Would you advertise alcohol in a park?

[r1v3th3ad]

Would you advertise alcohol in a park?

yes, I would...if drinking alcohol was legal in a park

[Dom]

Would you advertise alcohol in a park?

yes, I would...if drinking alcohol was legal in a park

rofl!! well put, rivethead!!!

i recently tried to start a movement onboard my ship to make it authorized to smoke a hookah onboard. i've posted about a a few times, but the short version of it is: i got my chief agreeing with the idea, but he pointed out to me that since the coal is considered a class D fire, it's a huge hazard to have on a ship. not good. so since it's a safety issue, i dropped the idea. the military is really ignorant when i comes to the hookah. especially the Navy. the army and airforce aren't as bad, since they are constantly over in the middle east. but i'm trying all i can to educate the people on my ship and hopefully the word will spread a little.

[ilikemyusername]

what are you going to do on the fourth of july? smoke hookah in a park silly!

[speel]

Would you advertise alcohol in a park?

yes, I would...if drinking alcohol was legal in a park

Alcohol and tobacco fall in the category of 18+ and thus should only be advertised to that crowd and since a park is a public place that kinda stuff shouldn't be advertised to kids and such you know? its just unethical. But smoking in a park shouldn't be a problem ..but most of rural USA has issues with anything foreign.

[Codename067]

Someone here on the forums had his hookah taken away by cops after he showed them a little biut of attitude.

My hookahs are priceless items -thats how i look at em- so its good that you cooperated with them.

[Dom]

Someone here on the forums had his hookah taken away by cops after he showed them a little biut of attitude.

My hookahs are priceless items -thats how i look at em- so its good that you cooperated with them.

yeah, you shouldn't be rude to anyone, even if they are ignorant pigs. no, wait, ESPECIALLY if they are ignorant pigs. don't do or say anything that'll make them feel stupid, but by all means; stand up for your rights. they can't arrest you or confiscate your hookah if you are polite and cordial when you tell them that it's tobacco and nothing illegal. offer to let them try it. lol.

edit: you know what: better yet, talk to the police ahead of time before you smoke in the park. that way, they have a heads up and when they get complaints of someone smoking a hookah, they'll know it's not a big deal. Edited June 30, 2008 by Dom

[blckngld760]

you offered to leave? i wouldn't have done that.
if he had asked me to put it away, i'd ask him what law dictated it. if there was a law that said that you can't smoke tobacco in the park, then okay. it's a law, neither he nor i have any control over that. but if it's just because some soccer mom saw it and thought it was drugs, then i would have told that cop to find something better to do. i wouldn't take any shit from those ingorant pigs. as long as i was within the law, i would have stayed and loaded another bowl. we have rights, damnit!

feel the exact same way

[Codename067]

Someone here on the forums had his hookah taken away by cops after he showed them a little biut of attitude.

My hookahs are priceless items -thats how i look at em- so its good that you cooperated with them.

yeah, you shouldn't be rude to anyone, even if they are ignorant pigs. no, wait, ESPECIALLY if they are ignorant pigs. don't do or say anything that'll make them feel stupid, but by all means; stand up for your rights. they can't arrest you or confiscate your hookah if you are polite and cordial when you tell them that it's tobacco and nothing illegal. offer to let them try it. lol.

edit: you know what: better yet, talk to the police ahead of time before you smoke in the park. that way, they have a heads up and when they get complaints of someone smoking a hookah, they'll know it's not a big deal.

Thats where racial profiling comes in. You are forgetting the fact that I am Arabic. A Middle Eastern. Something that some cops dont exactly "like". I sure as hell dont want to end up having to explain what a hookah is and all to a cop that really could care less and just wants to be a dick. I could therefore get some 'extra' shit from them. So I would never risk anything and play along.

[liquidglass]

Personally if I was worried about it I would carry a print off chart of the parts of a hookah and a little history about it and hand it to the officer.

Living in my apartments I've had a few cops come by mostly when other people have really loud parties. But They've always asked what I'm smoking and I offer to let them try it, so most of the time they refuse and go about their merry way. I had one cop ask to look in the bowl so I un wrapped it handed it to him and said "don't touch the rim it's hot" he smelled it and looked disappointed lol.


If a cop comes up to me in a public place where others are smoking cigs then I'll stay right there until I feel like leaving.

[ryno]

I agree with both opinions. It was good of you to coopperate, but then again, its not illegal unless it was in the park where you were.

I smoke out front of my dorms all the time at school, and the campus police usually wave at is. I'm guessing they are figuring we're not dumb enough for nht right out in the open.

I hate close minded people though, esp when it comes to hookah. I was with some friends and we were drinking and I asked them if they wanted to smoke hookah, and he asked what I smoked out of it, and I told him. He said "Nah, whats the point, I only smoke hookah if its nht." I just told him he was dumb and missing out

[Victim026]

Would you advertise alcohol in a park?

yes, I would...if drinking alcohol was legal in a park

Alcohol and tobacco fall in the category of 18+ and thus should only be advertised to that crowd and since a park is a public place that kinda stuff shouldn't be advertised to kids and such you know? its just unethical. But smoking in a park shouldn't be a problem ..but most of rural USA has issues with anything foreign.

How is advertising alcohol and tobacco in front of a crowd younger then 18 unethical? Every company does it... If it's unethical to show that stuff in front of kids then we might as well put them in a little cardboard box in the dark until they are 18. Billboards, TV, Radio, Magazines, and the newspapers all have alcohol and tobacco ad's in them, I hardly think smoking in a park does more damage then all of that stuff.

[Anxiety]

you definatly could have done what dom said, but sometimes cops can be a bit...ignorant and he would be like "oh this guys giving me attitude" then probaly take away your hookah and say they are going to test it for other things....i know this sounds like a bitch move but what you did was smart...just avoid the drama b/c sometimes when you mouth of to cops they have a tendency of making a simple situation a huge issue

[Dom]

i'm the type of guy who fights for what he believes in even if it may not seem worth it. truth be known, if you have an attitude like mine about this issue, you'll probably wind up in jail when confronted by cops about the hookah. when cops are proven wrong, they get butt-hurt and no matter how polite about it, they'll take it out on you and since they are cops, they can do pretty much whatever they want. ya'll are right, they could like say, "oh, the little shit was giving me attitude and not being cooperative, that's why i cuffed him and disassembled his hookah to inspect it closer. here, he can have it back, but good luck fixing it." Cops are dirty. and nothing i could say would convince the judge otherwise because i'm just a hookah-smoking hippie to those retards and they'll believe the cop before they believe me.

fuck it, man. i'd go to jail for that shit. as long as i had all my ducks in a row. like talk to the courthouse about the hookah before hand and get all my information straight and legal crap and then when i STILL get jacked for my hookah by the cops, i'd take it straight to the press, man.

can't do anything like that while i'm in the navy, though. it's against the UCMJ. (Uniform Code of Military Justice) we can't protest or participate in any kind of movement like that.

i'm sorry, man, but i'm getting pissed off at how ignorant the United States is about the hookah and with enough time and help, we can eliminate the stigma around the hookah.

although, on the other hand, to be realisitc, with enough time and help THEY can just as easily ban the fuck out of hookahs. lol

edit: changed "world" to "United States" Edited June 30, 2008 by Dom

[r1v3th3ad]

it was bjelder I believe that had his taken



and I'm the fight the good fight type of person too...

[Tom1]

i wouldn't take any shit from those ingorant pigs.

yeah, you shouldn't be rude to anyone, even if they are ignorant pigs. no, wait, ESPECIALLY if they are ignorant pigs.

Cops are dirty.

Shut your fucking mouth and stop spewing all that bullshit hate propoganda. Lets say you or a family member is somehow injured, are you going to call the police? why? because they're there to maintain order and public safety, not felony arrest someone for giving them lip. Edited June 30, 2008 by Tom16689

[Dom]

i wouldn't take any shit from those ingorant pigs.

yeah, you shouldn't be rude to anyone, even if they are ignorant pigs. no, wait, ESPECIALLY if they are ignorant pigs.

Cops are dirty.

Shut your fucking mouth and stop spewing all that bullshit hate propoganda. Lets say you or a family member is somehow injured, are you going to call the police? why? because they're there to maintain order and public safety, not felony arrest someone for giving them lip.

sounds like you need to chill out, bro. did i insult you or something? relax. this is a forum and what we do here is we talk about issues. if you got a problem with it, then get lost and quit reading this thread.

we are not talking about a family member getting hurt here. we are talking about hookahs. how does that even relate? you have got to be kidding me! i never said that cops serve no good purpose. but i've personally had many experiences and several of my friends have had several experiences that have shown me that many, many cops are corrupt. people who live their lives and do nothing to harm anyone else, being perfectly legal gettin harrassed by cops just because they "look suspicious." it pisses me off and i want to do something about it instead of just rolling over and taking it like many people do.

are you to tell me that there are no corrupt police officers? wake up

let's not get the wrong idea here. i have cop friends. there are many law-inforcement officers that do a swell job, but it's the corrupt ones that screw it up for evreryone. like on base, the law enforcement personnel in the military do a fantastic job. they have nothing in it for themselves and from my experience, they are the most fair of all law enforcement officers.

[Tom1]

I may have come off a bit too strong, but generalizations like that towards all cops are very personal.

[esheg4ever23]

Wow, this reminds me of the day me and my friend were doing hookah in front of Starbucks, and two cops pull up and were walking up to the door and they saw us in one of the corner tables, and one of the cops is like "oh man hookah?" And the other cop had no idea so he had to explain to him or whatever and my friend's like take a hit he's like nah man I can't I'm on duty or whatever. lol...weirdass day.