Hookah bars find a place in America

Most of the tobacco is imported from the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia; as a way of catering to Western tastes, tobacco manufacturers are introducing flavors like kiwi, watermelon and blackberry. Handcrafted pipes made of glass and brass are produced in Syria and Egypt, although China is making less expensive pipes out of acrylic.

The tobacco is held in a bowl near the top of the pipe, kept lit by red-hot charcoal. The smoke is drawn through water before being sucked through a long tube. Pipes can have one tube, or as many as six, so that many people can share the tobacco.

Pipes cost between $50 and $180. In lounges and bars, the tobacco is sold in batches for as little as $5 or as much as $20. One batch can last a person an hour or longer.

"I can smoke hookah at home, but coming here is like a treat," said Brenda Wright, 20, one of a group of friends who visit the Rabbit Hole several times a week. "I've noticed it's gotten a lot more popular just in the past two months."

Friday and Saturday nights at the Rabbit Hole are so crowded, some people (many of them are students from the nearby University of Washington) end up sitting on the floor. The other nights are for the regulars, many under the age of 21.

The scene is different at the Egyptian Caf?? on Steinway Street in Astoria, Queens. On most nights, the clientele in the Egyptian Caf?? is predominantly Middle Eastern. There are few frills and little glamour, just chairs and small tables and men poring over backgammon and dominos.

The time spent in the immigrant hookah lounges is workaday and routine. Said Elmekabati, 35, a businessman from Brooklyn, often entertains clients at the Egyptian Caf??. Hesham Amin comes here almost everyday. It is like an extension of his living room — Starbucks, but with smoke.

Amin, 38, who was raised in Alexandria, Egypt, is a customer. Sometimes, he says, he sees more Americans than Egyptians.

"Everybody comes here," he said, pointing the direction of a young couple canoodling in a corner. Jose Ocampo is 19; Sanjana Chowdhury is 18. Hookah, for them, was an acquired taste. The smoke made them light-headed. But they grew fond of the flavor and the effect.

"At first I came here so I could spend time with him," Chowdhury said. "Now I'm not sure if I'm addicted to the hookah or addicted to him."

There has been some backlash to the hookah craze. In Anaheim, Calif., city officials attempted to regulate some hookah lounges after complaints by neighbors of noise and rowdiness. The owners, primarily Middle Eastern immigrants, accused officials of cultural bias.

But the biggest problem for owners of hookah parlors are smoking bans in many cities. New York's 2003 ban, at first, did practically nothing to limit the hookah dens in Astoria and Bay Ridge. Although the places violated the law, officials generally looked the other way since it was obvious that customers frequent hookah bars only to smoke, and because the ban was not aimed at hookah smokers. The future of hookah and smoking bans is still unresolved. For right now, it is a matter of case-by-case enforcement.

Days after the ban went into effect in Seattle, owners of the Rabbit Hole continued to serve hookah, not so much defying the law as ignoring it. A new sign on the front door read, "private club members only — inquire within." One of the Rabbit Hole's owner declined to answer questions about the ban, saying only that he intended to continue operating his business.

The effect of hookah on health is an issue. Medical research is scarce on the effects of smoking hookah, although doctors agree that smoking any kind of tobacco is not healthy.

"It's worthy of scientific study," said Dr. Norman Edelman, chief medical officer with the American Lung Association. "I can tell you none have been planned. But it is tobacco. And all tobacco contains any number of chemicals that are harmful."

Users claim that because hookah smoke is drawn through water contained in the pipe, the smoke is less harmful — an assertion that doctors say has no merit.

"People in my country have been smoking hookah for centuries," Amin said. "I've never heard of anyone getting sick and dying."

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