They’ve been banned in some of Canada’s largest cities and provinces, but a gap in Manitoba’s smoking regulations means hookah lounges in the province are safe… for now.
Manitoba’s current legislation only bans the smoking and vaping of cannabis and tobacco in public places — it doesn’t ban smoking a hookah.
Which means some businesses, like the Ramallah Cafe on Pembina Highway, are able to allow customers the chance to smoke indoors.
“For us when we gather, we gather around a hookah with a couple teas or coffees,” Ramallah Cafe co-owner Jamal Assi said. “Hookah is a part of our daily life.”
Assi grew up in Jerusalem and moved to Winnipeg 12 years ago. He opened the cafe with two friends in November 2015.
A hookah is a water pipe used to smoke shisha, a product made from an herbal blend.
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In Canada, hookah bars are not allowed to serve shisha that contains tobacco.
“We are serving all herbal and this is what we are supposed to be using for our laws to (be) smoking inside the doors,” Assi said.
The hookah has a bowl containing burning charcoal that is placed on top of the flavored tobacco or a tobacco-less herbal blend. Charcoal is separated from tobacco by perforated aluminum foil.
As the charcoal heats the tobacco below, smoke is created. When users draw on the stem of the hookah, the smoke is pulled through the water chamber, cooling it before being inhaled into the lungs.
But the Canadian Cancer Society said Manitoba is behind the times when it comes to legislation surrounding hookahs.
“The Manitoba provincial legislation and Winnipeg bylaw will apply to prohibit smoking in indoor public places,” Senior Policy Analyst Rob Cunningham said.
“Provincially it will apply to cannabis and vaping but not herbal hookah. So that’s a gap other provinces and municipalities have already filled.”
Currently, hookah lounges and restaurants have been banned in five provinces: Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland.
RELATED: Ontario court dismisses appeal of Toronto’s ban on hookahs at licensed businesses
It’s also barred in Vancouver and more than a dozen Ontario municipalities, including Toronto and Ottawa.
“Second hand smoke is second hand smoke,” Cunningham said. “This was not an issue 20 years ago but it has become an issue and we are extremely concerned.”
A concern the society would like to see addressed in Manitoba.
“It’s a natural next step for Winnipeg and Manitoba,” Cunningham suggested. “If we ban smoking of tobacco and smoking of cannabis in public places, like we have, there’s no reason to allow harmful smoke from herbal water pipe devices.”
The province recently amended it’s legislation to include a ban on smoking cannabis in public places when it becomes legalized later this year and said it’s a bill that is always changing.
READ MORE: Pot rules, penalties in line with tobacco, alcohol: Manitoba ministers
“This is an evolving area of law,” a Manitoba Health spokesperson said via email to Global News. “There will be, through regulation and legislation, further considerations on the location and methods of consuming cannabis and smoking in general.”