Hearing set on warnings in Suffolk hookah lounges

The Suffolk Board of Health Wednesday proposed that warnings be placed prominently in local hookah lounges -- trendy new gathering places for young people -- to alert customers that water pipes pose dangers that range from tobacco dependence to tuberculosis and herpes.

The board set March 16 for a public hearing at the health department in Hauppauge on a proposed change to the county's sanitary code which would mandate printed warnings be posted prominently in all hookah establishments. Health officials said there are at least five in operation and they are not regulated.

Dr. Robert Tomarken, county health commissioner, said warnings are needed because many customers may be unaware that siska, the substance smoked from the water pipes, is a tobacco product, which poses a risk of cancer and heart disease.

Hookah lounges offer customers dozens of sweet flavors from mango and blueberry to piña colada and bubble gum, choices that health officials fear mask the health risks. Some lounges, owners said, charge a $5 cover fee and then other fees $8 to $30 for renting the water pipes that can be used by as many as five customers at a time.

Tomarken also said that while mouthpieces for the water pipes are normally changed with each use, the tubes and water in the pipe could expose smokers to infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, hepatitis and herpes. The health commissioner said inspectors have found that lounges may also pose "a multitude of issues" because some lounges attract underage teens and also serve alcoholic beverages.

Akash Sharma, owner of Moonlight Hookah Lounge in Huntington Station, said the health department is unfairly singling out legitimate businesses serving young adults and older clientele, who like to converse and take in the social atmosphere of a hookah lounge. "The health department is just looking for an excuse to shut us down," he said.

Sharma said hookah smoke has less nicotine and none of the tar or other dangerous substances that cigarettes contain. He said hookahs are cleaned daily with vinegar and baking soda and customers use their own mouthpieces. "It's a phony issue," he said.But Legis. Kate Browning (WFP-Shirley), a board of health member, said further legislation is needed to register lounges, set standards for keeping pipes clean and insure that underage teens do not become customers. She said she is working with a government class at William Floyd High School to draft a proposed local law. "We need to set some guidelines and what these kids are doing is fantastic," she said.