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Sad News for my Lounge Today


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Well, thanks to the powers that be in the city of Indianapolis, Marion County now has a public smoking ban.The terms of the ban are simple. Either stop allowing all smoking, or turn your establishment into an over 18 place only.The problem is, my lounge is known for it's food as much as it is for the hookahs, and that would be hard on thier business. On top of that, it's a family run establishment, and if they turned it into a smoking facility, all of the youngins would no longer be allowed in.They asked the county if they could build a seperate room, and the answer was sure, as long as you get a second liquor licence.So, I went to eat and smoke last night, talked to the owner for awhile, and it sounds like for awhile at least, he will be smoke free. The law is full of holes, and no one is answering the questions he's asking about it.I feel bad for the guy. Damned if he does, damned if he don't.
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Right now, they're trying to figure out how the law applies to them, as it's written differently for cigar bars. The problem is, the wording is spotty at best, and sounds like they were trying to get it on the books first, and trying to make it sound was secondary.
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Hey, I'm from Indianapolis as well! Are you talking about Khoury's? I've never been there, the food seemed a little steep and the website didn't really have a lot of information about their hookah. Sad I missed it before it was gone.
We should go have a bit of civil disobedience and smoke some hookah out front of the restaurant!
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Yeah, I'm talking about Khoury's. The food is like $7.00 for a gyro sandwich with whatever side which is what I always do, and it's the best I've ever had, of any restuarant I've ever tried. I suggest you go there to try the food, even if you can't smoke.Come spring, they should allow smoking on the decks no matter what, which is where I prefer during warmer weather anyway. Like I sad, I talked to both Khoury and his son last night for about an hour and a half, and his son said he makes his mind up about four times a day on what he is going to do.If however you're looking for a local place to get MYA hookahs locally, they're the place. They always have acrylics and QTs with cases, and have some of the bohemian glass ones in right now.
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You think thats bad .. They want to ban smoking in any public place here.  They are going to disallow cigar bars, private clubs or any other establishment with a liquir license to have any kind of smoking by next January. 
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well i live in seattle and in washington they just passed the state wide smoking ban everywhere even in bars.  But ya know what the hookah place i have always went to is still puff'n strong.  Why? i dont know because hookah smoking is part of the indoor ban but i just dont think anyone really cares
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There was an initative in VA this General Assembly session to effectively ban smoking in public places.  It made it out of the Senate with a couple amendments, but it died a deserving death in a House subcommittee a few days ago.The VA Senate is a disgrace for many reasons, and this only shows to highlight that.  The House is usually, but not always, more clear-headed when it comes to personal freedoms.Hopefully the problem senators get shown the door in the upcoming election cycle.
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See, Indiana is usually very, very good with our personal freedoms. Hell, look at our gun laws. Puts Texas to shame. But, this wasn't a state wide ban, this is just the county that Indianapolis is in. There are other counties in the state that are "banned" counties as well.I don't smoke cigarettes, and honestly I find them somewhat offensive, but I feel it should be up to the owned of the restaurant, and not a group of politicians that should be deciding. There were plently of places around Indy that were no smoking by the owners choice, and I am more then fine with that.Don't even get me started on Senator Bayh.
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jesus christ, i don't smoke anything but hookahs, but a bar without cigarettes? man, that's awful.  this puritanical conservative bullcrap is simply going too far.. see i said crap, but i almost said something else.. i'm that pissed.  a bar without cigarettes is like... a hookah lounge without comfortable seats.@#$@#~!!!!!thank god i live in west virginia, and we'd probably sooner die than quit smoking.
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[quote name='Tangiers']The irony is, I have yet to see any evidence that  second hand smoke is dangerous.  Welcome to the "Follow California  game"  [/quote] Fortunantly the ban here still allows pubs and the like to allow customers above the age of 18 in to smoke. However as I said, this will hurt thier food business.Tangiers my man, you really do need to move to a free state.
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That's not that bad. Here, by June, the smoking ban starts, which in essence is going to be good for the lounge I go to. All hookah lounges will need a proper ventilation system which is to be inspected by the government. All hookah lounges cannot sell food that THEY make. So if you have already prepared bagels or whatever, it's ok. As long as you don't have a kitchen. A way around this is making the food at home, freezing it, heating it up when a client wants whatever. Another thing, which is a big thing for Canadian lounges, is that any lounge with tobacco that hasn't been taxed, will be fined so hard up the ass that their life would be pretty close to ruined. Let me tell you, 99.97% of the hookah lounges in my city have illegal tobacco.It's a heated topic, but my place is safe. Actually I'm helping the owner redesign the insides for the spring season :)Jon
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I'm a californian. *ducks*You can't smoke anywhere except outside, and 15 feet from doors too. Although my local cigar shop you can smoke in. I guess they have a smoking license. This is just the evolution of trying to get people to stop smoking. Now I think chew will be in full swing, especially amoung young adults. They should be informed of the hookah.
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In California, the license to be a tobacco retailer is $100 in perpetuity. After that, you can allow people to smoke. I know lots of business owners who still smoke/allow smoking. The general attitude is, this is my property, F*** you for making laws for what I can do on my property. It all started with allowing police to enforce handicapped spots on private property. Prior to that, poilce couldn't enforce laws on private property without reasonable cause.Yeha, Doug, I love P&T!
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There's a restuarnt/bar in Bloomington, IN that I go to a lot in the summer. Very country, a honkytonk through and through. They just barely fall under the Monroe County smoking ban (by about 1/4 of a mile). After getting fined weekly, they decided enough was enough, put a jar out, and the regulars earned enough money in about a week to get them a tobacco license.Now evertime the renewal date rolls along, they just put out a jar, and the money just shows up. Damn liberal cities.
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