Ahwaz Hookah House and Persia’s Smoke Shop, Vancouver’s two remaining hookah shops, are facing extinction as City Hall presses to shut them down due to a bylaw infraction.
In 2007 the City of Vancouver passed a by-law banning the burning of any substance in public buildings, specifically: any “cigarette, cigar, pipe, hookah pipe, or other lighted smoking equipment that burns tobacco or other weed or substance”.
The City explicitly singled out the hookah shops without regard to the fact the shops were not burning tobacco. Both hookah stores burn only herbal molasses based substances.
Owners of both stores argue CIty Hall is guilty of hypocrisy by singling them out and not enforcing the bylaw against churches that burn incense and candles or marijuana stores pluming with smoke from pipes and joints.
“We changed our tobacco to herbal molasses. It has no nicotine and no tobacco in it,” said Abbas Abdiannia, Owner Ahwaz Hookah House. “This was a big change.”
Abdolhamid Mohammadian, Owner, Persia’s Smoke Shop added that the substance is ‘herbal, not tar,’ and that there wan ant nicotine.
“Nobody has ever complained about our businesses.  Everybody is happy except City Hall,” he added.
The Ahwaz Hookah House on Georgia and Persia’s Smoke Shop on Davie, have been in business since 2005 and 1999, respectively. Both owners are Persian immigrants and small business owners.
The owners are scheduled to go to court this fall to have the By-law ruled as a violation of their Charter right to cultural freedom, but before they continue embark on a legal battle, they are seeking support from the City council and Mayor to recognize that the smoking of herbal hookah is not harmful and should be protected as a cultural activity.