Those Darn Police.

[Dom]

okay, before the mods start sending out pms to people, let me just set a few things straight here:

if anyone was offended by the remarks i made about police on here, send me a pm and let's talk about it. i'll give you my phone number and we can talk it out. i appologize if anyone took what i said the wrong way.

i may have gone a little overboard on the "pigs" comments, but i just feel really strongly about this issue and issues like these where people rights are being infringed upon. the idea behind having a police system is great. our country would not be as nice a place to live if the law enforcement hand't been the way it has been. however, there are still many, many examples of police doing really shady, unethical things and i cannot leave that un noticed.

we all have rights, including the right of freedom of speech and if you have a problem with what i said, speak it here respectfully and have your opinion be heard. don't stoop so low to insult, swear, or call names.

however, like i said, if you are just bent on cursing me out, i'll be glad to give you my phone number and we can have a chat about this issue.

[Dom]

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.

wow, respect, man! that's cool. i love it when i'm just about to explain that no, the hookah is not illegal or anything, and then someone else steps in and does it for me. that shows me that it's working and someone out there got the word out to some people and the word is spreading. makes me happy.

i think that before the end of the next decade, it will be rare that someone in America does not know about the hookah and it's real intent. man, i hope.

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

right on, dude. you are absolutely right. i was a bit too strong as well. and generalizations are for the birds, man. that's what pisses me off about racial profiling and the such; and here i am doing the same thing.
my bad. i've got to be more careful when delicate issues are discussed. i hope i cleared up any misunderstandings.

[Tom1]

It's all good.

[ryno]

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.

That reminds me of a week or so ago I was smoking with a sheriff's wife and a few friends, and he came walking out and flipped out.... Needless to say, he now knows the PROPER use of a hookah.. nothing like another enlightened officer out there.

[Big Boss]

That reminds me of a week or so ago I was smoking with a sheriff's wife and a few friends, and he came walking out and flipped out.... Needless to say, he now knows the PROPER use of a hookah.. nothing like another enlightened officer out there.

Do you guys honestly expect the cops to know what a hookah is? I doubt they teach that at the academy. I don't smoke my hookah out in public because of this. In my neck of the woods the cops will look for a reason to bust your ass or give you shit. When I in highschool I was driving home after a football game one fall. I was pulled over for speeding and the cop called in 2 more squad cars because my duffle bag "looked suspcious." Seriously. I don't even want to know what would have happened if I had my hookah. Most cops are dicks. Don't be too surprised when they get an attitude.

[Johnny_D]

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"

Unfortunately it's just this type of reaction that will continue 'cops' attitude to hookah's and hookah smokers. You catch more flies with honey than vinegar to coin an old saying

[mikeypas]

right or wrong, educated or misinformed, the raw deal is you do what a cop says, plain and simple. if the cop is wrong, ok, sort it out later. but simply refusing to obey a police officer is an offense. it may not be just, but if a cop tells you to leave, (even if you are not breaking any laws), you disobeying a peace officer will only get you into trouble.

that being said, educating people to what hookah is key. i moved down to texas for a while, and believe you me, the locals (galveston) thought i was smoking opium or something. but i did it on my own property, and if a cop ever told me to leave public property, trust me i would.

hookah is supposed to be zen, and a big confrontation isn't going to help you chill.. i'm definately not advocating to have your civil liberties taken away, but i just think that confronting a cop is a no-win situation.

i had a friend once, visit another friend in a different city and they were at a bar. the cops came for a unknown reason (someone else in the bar causing trouble) and told people to vacate the bar. my friend just stuck around until his other friend came out (cause he didnt have a lift, know the city etc..) and the cop arrested him for disobeying a peace officer. uncool true, will it hold up, probably not, but still, do you want that hassle?


[this is just my opinion, i hope i didnt offend anyone! ultimate goal here: everyone should be able to enjoy hookah wherever!)

[Dom]

you know what? ya'll are right. don't put yourself in a situation where you KNOW that someone will fuck with you. the hookah is all about being chill and for someone like me to be so eager up up a fight (even if it's for our rights) is against what smoking the hookah is about.

a better alternative:. education. talk about it wherever you go, start conversations about it and maybe go to the courthouse and talk to officials about it and make it known about it's proper use. we can at least start in our own community, then it will spread from there. tell people about this web site. if we educate as many people as we can, then it will be easier on all of us. Edited June 30, 2008 by Dom

[Johnny_D]

Thats the hope Dom. However I do suspect your right in the undercurrent of what you were saying.

Yes a lot of police are ignorant about many many issues. A Lot of Police officer appear to be 'in the job' for no other reason than to use it as an ability to exert some type of misplaced authority on others.

and occasionally you meet the genuine officer.

JD

[wongxiao]

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.

lol, not entirely disagreeing with you, but I remember back when I was... oh say, 16 probably? ...I went to the COMDEX Convention here in Vegas. There were people who would stand on the street corner advertising porno, strippers, and hookers. They don't care if you're a nine year old boy or a 60 year old grandma--they still push it on you. And I mean, they push it on you. Go into the men's room and they've even got them laying all over the place in there... it was freakin terrible.

Sounds like OP wasn't really pushing this stuff on people who OBVIOUSLY can't legally participate... so in my book, that's okay. I mean, sure, it's not the most appropriate thing in the world, but it's hardly worth summoning the police over.

[Anxiety]

not trying to take sides here, but unfurtounatly were i live alot of people do abuse the hookah, which in some sort of sense i suppose gives cops the right to investegate. the problem is where i live it's basically a small, rich suburbia so if some one saw me smoking hookah in a park i think there would be 3-4 cop cars on the scene within minutes lol. I know that every one on this forum uses hookah the right way, but there are people out there who are...ignorant....and use it what its not supposed to be used for hence why it has some what of a bad reputation on un-educated people about the topic.

[Snoopy1966]

When I smoke in Parks I try to stay away from the little ones as much as possible. I smoke all over the place, need to get Hookah awareness out there!! . It will not stop me. Just be careful where you smoke and if little kids are around. The misconception stuff sucks, that why I go out to smoke in Public!!

[jezter6]

I don't trust my landlords to not try and throw me out over it, but they have some extra strict NH equipment stuff in the lease to kick you out. My roommate is about to sign a contract on a new house, so the day we're sure we got a new place to live - it's smoke hookah outside till the cops come and the landlords attempt to throw us out.

At least then we don't have to worry about losing the battle if they do kick us out, and it'll be fun to educate some cops and apartment managers about the proper use of hookah.

[Snoopy1966]

But the thing is it is not NH related. This is what sucks. We smoke tobacco ONLY from our Hookahs. I wish peoples would understand. I do not see how a landlord could do something if the Hookah is only for tobacco usage. Unless there is a no smoking policy for the rental then I understand.

[jezter6]

It all comes down to perception. If they assume it's a NH pipe - it's an NH pipe. They will kick me out and then I would have to SUE them to stay.

In the meantime, I will let them kick me out, then sue them for all sorts of moving fees to move into my new house as a lesson.

I will write some harsh letters to them once I get my 'get out' notice and see if they relent (then leave anyways because I have a month-to-month lease). If they don't, I will threaten litigation and probably take them to small claims court for the cost of the moving company for illegaly kicking me out of my home (and a slight monetary hit for emotional distress).