Boston commission votes ban hookah bars

Friday, December 12, 2008 at 9:12 am

Boston officials approved some of the toughest anti-tobacco rules in the United States, extinguishing cigar bars and hookah bars and ending the sales of tobacco in pharmacies and on college campuses.

The Boston Public Health Commission, however, decided to give the bars 10 years before they would have to close, doubling the original proposed grace period for the establishments. Even then, the bars could seek an extension for another 10 years.

Boston is the largest US city, by far, to move to outlaw smoking bars, which have been exempt from the city’s four-year-old workplace smoking ban.

“As we all know, smoking is the number one cause of preventable cancer deaths in the U.S.,” said Dr Paula Johnson, chairwoman of the commission.

“It’s very important that we really think about what are the steps we can take to make our city as healthy as it can possibly be,” she said.

The commission gave preliminary approval in September to the rules, which will take effect on campuses and pharmacies in 60 days.

Under the new regulations, operators of a smoking bar whose permit is current or whose application was pending before the commission by November 1 will be able to operate for a period of not more than 10 years. After 10 years, they can petition for one 10-year extension.

Roger Swartz, who heads the commission’s community initiatives bureau, said the panel lengthened the grace period for the bars because of hard economic times.

(With inputs from Agencies)

( This post is from an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not endorsed by APakistanNews.Com.)

Boston commission votes ban hookah bars

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