Concerned that his sales have plummeted during the first week of the statewide ban on smoking in bars and restaurants, the owner of a Chapel Hill hookah bar is encouraging people to snitch to government officials that he’s defying the ban. Adam Bliss, owner of Hookah Bliss, says he needs an official violation notice from Orange County in order to proceed with his plan to fight the law in court.
Bliss hasn’t stopped selling hookahs and beer at his Franklin Street establishment that caters to the college crowd. Even so, he hasn’t received a notice from the county. Bliss may even file a complaint himself to speed the process. “I’ve never had so much trouble getting in trouble,” he says.
Achieving his goal will require more than one informant to rat him out. In December, Tom Konsler, Orange County’s environmental health director, told Carolina Journal the county’s first response to a complaint would be to talk with the owner. A warning letter would be sent if complaints continue. A subsequent complaint would trigger a second warning letter. Additional violations could trigger a fine of up to $200 per day.
Bliss says some customers assume he went out of business Jan. 2, the day the law went into effect. Others are calling or stopping by to determine the shop’s fate. He says the one-third drop in sales continues a downward spiral that began last summer when Gov. Beverly Perdue signed the smoking ban. If his business goes under, Bliss will lose about $70,000. He and half a dozen part-time employees will join the unemployment line.
Bliss’ legal strategy is simple. He says hookahs aren’t a lighted tobacco product and, therefore, aren’t covered by the law. Hookahs consist of tobacco mixed with molasses, glycerin and flavorings, which go into a clay bowl. “You don’t actually burn the tobacco to smoke a hookah,” Bliss explains. “It’s designed as a giant vaporizer, so the heat from the top and the fact that the clay bowl also heats up volatizes the molasses and glycerin and flavorings without burning the tobacco.”
Bliss had expected to quickly hear from Orange County’s health department — the local enforcer of the law — after CJ reported in December that the county was aware of his opposition and planned to contact him. When that didn’t happen, Bliss sought out Rosemary Summers, the county health director.
Bliss says Summers told him she is aware of how hookahs work but plans to enforce the spirit, rather than the letter, of the law. “She says she believes the intention of the law is to curb tobacco use and she would count hookahs under the law.”
In an e-mail response to CJ, Summers wrote she is seeking clarification from attorneys about whether hookahs meet the definition in the law and that she is obligated to enforce the law as written. “The intent of the law as stated is to protect individuals from the effects of secondhand smoke,” Summers wrote. “My intent is to enforce the law as it is written.”
So far, no hookah bar has been tagged, according to Bliss. If another owner gets a violation before he does, fine with him. What’s key is that one of them has a violation in hand. That’s when the owners will pool their cash and hire an attorney, Bliss says.
The fight for his family business has introduced Bliss to the maze of government regulation. He’s concerned state officials couldn’t ensure the ban will be enforced uniformly from county to county.
After several phone conversations, he was directed to a UNC School of Government and NC Division of Public Health presentation (PDF file) titled “Implementing the Smoking Law: What Health Directors Need to Know.”. Good news, he thought. Then he was told it’s not possible to know if local enforcement officials have read the document.
The presentation says complaints can be filed by calling 1-800-662-7030, by visiting www.smokefree.nc.gov, or by contacting the local health department.
Donna Martinez is a contributor to Carolina Journal and co-host of Carolina Journal Radio.