The Boston tobacco ban may not negatively affect hookah and cigar bars for years, but bar employees said they think the Boston Public Health Commission has gone too far.
The ban, which the BPHC passed Dec. 11, will require hookah and cigar bars in Boston to shut down in the next 10 years as well as ending tobacco sales on college campuses and in pharmacies by Feb 9.
‘They’re getting to the point where they’re almost making tobacco products illegal,’ Patrick Kelly, the humidor manager of Cigar Masters in Boston, said. ‘We’re hitting the threshold to either make it a controlled substance or just back off.’
Kelly said he thinks the BPHC ban is excessive, and customers have continued to frequent his business despite the economic downturn.
‘Even with the economy, we’ve seen a steady stream of customers,’ Kelly said. ‘We haven’t seen much change.’
Kelly, who is in charge of all Cigar Masters’ cigars and tobacco, said the bar is ‘definitely’ going to appeal to BPHC to stay open after the 10 years are up.
‘Personally, I feel that they’re doing what they think is right,’ Kelly said. ‘If they think that’s what’s best for the general public, and we think otherwise, then it’s in both our power to defend our positions.’
Tangierino Restaurant assistant general manager Ssagawa Lugira said the Charlestown restaurant’s hookah lounge accounts for a large part of its revenue.
‘That’s how we make our money,’ he said. ‘They’re trying to take away how we pay the bills.’
Tangierino has appealed to the BPHC and will stay open five more years after the initial 10 years, he said.
The key to staying open for a longer period is how much money you have, Lugira said.
‘All it really is, is just a money thing,’ he said. ‘When it comes to licenses, it’s what you’re willing to cough up and which guidelines you’re willing to abide by.’
Mark Burke, the owner of the Sheesha Lounge, a hookah bar in Allston, said he does not agree with the ban.
‘It’s an insult to the people of Boston. Basically when you have one board trying to ban something that isn’t really that negative…,’ Burke said. ‘From what I can see, people like smoking hookah. Whether you publicize the ban, people are still going to enjoy it.’
BPHC Communications Director Ann Scales said the BPHC does not think the ban should have a negative economic impact because it allows the bars to stay open 10 years instead of the five years in the original proposal.
‘Perhaps in 10 years, there will be fewer people smoking cigars and pipes, and perhaps less of a need for those establishments to exist,’ Scales said. ‘If you look at the data, fewer people smoke today than they did 10 to 15 years ago. The more incentives you give people to not smoke, then the more likely we’ll be moving in a direction of a smokeless society.’
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