Caravansarai Hookahs

Congressman Henry Waxman, of California's 30th District (Los Angeles), can now play Yankee Doodle and add a feather to his hat with the House passage of HR1256, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Regulation Act. The bill, which seeks to assign the authority of tobacco regulation to the FDA, passed a House vote yesterday with 298 representatives saying AYE and only 112 saying NAY. The New York Times has provided a roll call of the voting here. How did your representative vote?

Today, the House voted to put Rep. Henry Waxman's (D-Calif.) tobacco bill up for a vote. Waxman's bill seeks to give regulatory control over tobacco to the FDA and has specific stipulations that will have a tremendous impact on hookah tobacco:

"His bill wouldn't let the FDA ban nicotine or tobacco outright, but the agency would be able to regulate the contents of tobacco products, make public their ingredients, prohibit flavoring, require much larger warning labels and strictly control or prohibit marketing campaigns, especially those geared toward children." (Source)

The prohibition on flavoring tobacco means no menthol cigarettes and no flavored pipe or hookah tobacco! What is hookah without flavored tobacco?

The Supreme Court ruled in 2000 that the FDA does not have the authority to regulate tobacco, but Waxman and Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass) have worked tirelessly to change that. Considering the FDA's recent track record of failures in monitoring food safety, I can't imagine what they'll do with tobacco.

So, hookah smokers, now is the time to step up to the plate and let our voices be heard. Get on the phone and call your state's senators, both of them, and your district's Congressional representative before the opportunity passes by. Your voice counts!

The taxman cometh, and he wants you to pay more for tobacco products this time around. I love my home state, but I must admit that Californians' tendency to tax anything and everything with which we disagree or disapprove is about to drive me over the edge!

Last night, on the way home from class, I had to stop at the local 7-11 for a pack of cigarettes. As I walked into the store, I noticed a neon orange sign on the front door suggesting that smokers stock up before the latest cigarette tax takes effect on April 1. "Crap!" I thought, "Another tobacco tax coming down the pike?" So this morning, I decided to do some investigation to uncover the when, where, and how much of the latest round of tobacco taxes across the country.

In California, AB 89, which passed the Legislature on January 5, 2009, increases the tax on cigarettes only. On April 1, 2009, each pack of cigarettes will go up in price by $1.05. Although I scoured the bill, which you can read here, I didn't find any increase for other tobacco products. The cost of hookah tobacco should not go up as a result of AB 89; the language of the bill is specific to cigarettes. We got somewhat lucky this time around. Other states, though, weren't as fortunate.

• Arkansas' HB 1204 will increase the tax on non-cigarette tobacco products from 32 precent of the wholesale price to 68 percent. The governer's website has more information on the tax increase and the allocation of the funds collected.
• Kentucky's HB 144 doubles the current tax on "snuff and other tobacco products," so that means hookah tobacco prices will increase.

Several other states have tobacco legislation in the works, but the process that each state requires for a bill to pass into law has not been completed yet. If you like in Alabama, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, or South Dakota, you need to know that your states' governments are actively pursuing an increase in tobacco taxes. To find out more, check out the 2009 Proposed State Tobacco Tax Increase Legislation website.

Maybe it's time to learn the fine art of tobacco agriculture!

• How delegates and Senators voted on Virginia smoking ban


• Economy of Virginia Including Virginia Agriculture and Manufacturing


• The Tobacco War: Industry Intrinsic to Virginia Now Vulnerable

If I had a dime for every time I heard an older adult lament the bad behavior of youth, I'd be a gazillionaire! The older generation complains about young people all the time, yet they never seem to offer a viable solution to the things they see as problems among the youth. Take for example, an interesting situation that has been going on in Napa Valley, California.

Napa Valley, long known as California's wine country, is a popular destination for tourists. As a result, businesses in the Valley cater to visitors. Hot air balloon rides, winery tours, fine dining, and wine tasting events are great for tourists and, I'm sure, provide them with a wonderful vacation. However, there are people who actually live in Napa Valley -- people who have families. The teens of Napa Valley aren't old enough to participate in the alcohol related events and don't have the disposable income to afford the fine dining experience (and probably wouldn't be interested in it anyway). So what is a bored teen to do in Napa Valley?

Evidently, nothing. Businesses designed to cater to the locals tend to have run-ins with neighbors who don't want the teens in "their neighborhoods." The case of the Smoking Cat, according to a recent article in the Napa Valley Register, appears to be the norm. Kids come, they enjoy themselves in an environment where no alcohol is served, and neighbors complain. The Smoking Cat planned to serve hookahs on an outside patio, but the idea got neighbors up in arms. The old "not in my neighborhood" prevailed, and complaints from a neighbor and a nearby religious school brought the Smoking Cat before the Napa Planning Commission, where they were told that clients could not smoke, even on the outside patio, and that live music could not continue after 8 p.m.

With all of the adults howling about teens wreaking havoc and making trouble, it makes no sense to me that we wouldn't be seeking viable alternatives for them. Give teens a safe place to hang out with friends, allow them to express themselves on live mic night, and offer those who are of legal age a non-alcoholic way to socialize, and we might be surprised at what could happen. Provide teens with a solution to their boredom and we just might see them enjoying themselves in ways other than vandalizing property, partying without adult supervision, and generally causing mayhem.

Remember what John Milton said about being a careful considerer of human nature?