By Michael Tomsic
Wilmington, NC – A bill to exempt hookah bars from the North Carolina smoking ban was withdrawn from the House at the request of hookah bar owners.
The bill had passed two committees when hookah bar owners from Watauga and Orange Counties asked Watauga County Democrat Cullie Tarleton to pull it. Tarleton, the bill's primary sponsor, says the issue will not be reopened during this legislative cycle.
"I tried to make it very clear that our window of opportunity was now, which was last week, and once the decision was made not to go forward with the bill, that killed it for this session."
Tarleton says the owners asked him to withdraw the bill because of amendments that would greatly restrict their businesses. He says his office called and emailed hookah bars throughout the state and received almost no responses. If hookah bars cannot adjust their businesses to qualify as tobacco shops, he says they will be shut down on January 2nd.
Do you have insight or expertise on this topic? Please e-mail us, we'd like to hear from you. news@whqr.org.