Business

Dearborn Cracking Down On Illegal Hookah Cafes

August 18, 2014, 7:32 AM

A city known for its hookah cafés has banned the opening of any more of them for the next six months amid concern that some establishments are operating illegally and hurting the community’s health, Niraj Warikoo reports in the Free Press.

The move in Dearborn has pleased those concerned about the proliferation of hookah cafés, both legal and illegal, but others say it will hurt business and unfairly targets places popular with Arab Americans. Last year, Troy also cracked down on hookah cafés, restricting hours because officials said they were attracting trouble.

Warikoo reports Dearborn Mayor Jack O’Reilly Jr. stressed that the city is not targeting the 15 licensed hookah cafés in the city, but the additional 15 or so cafés that don’t have licenses. Some of those unlicensed cafés say they’re using herbs, not tobacco, which they say allows them to operate without state approval.

O’Reilly said that Dearborn already has the highest concentrations of hookah cafés in the state, and so it’s not as if the city is being too restrictive on them.

“There’s a lack of clarity with the law that needs to be resolved,” he said.


Read more:  Detroit Free Press


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