Bills Go To Governor

Lawmakers acted on these bills Thursday and sent several to to Gov. John Kitzhaber:

WINE COUNTRY PLATE: A license plate promoting Oregon as "wine country" is a signature away from becoming law.

The House passed Senate Bill 442 on a 48-11 vote Thursday. "It will serve as a moving billboard for our state and its great wine country," said House Republican Leader Kevin Cameron of Salem, who co-sponsored the bill with Sen. Jackie Winters, R-Salem.

The specialty plate will cost $30 on top of regular fees for plates. Net proceeds, after manufacturing costs, would go to the Oregon Tourism Commission for specific promotions.

House Bill 3684, which awaits a vote today in the Senate, would create a "Keep Kids Safe" plate, proceeds from which would go to the Children's Trust Fund of Oregon Foundation to fight child abuse.

A plate authorized in 2009 for fallen public-safety officers has generated enough money from donations to begin production. Startup money cannot come from the state highway fund, which relies on fuel taxes and vehicle and driver fees.

Oregon has a basic plate with a tree, plus specialty plates for salmon habitat, Oregon Cultural Trust and Crater Lake.

The state has 31 variations, including 12 for veterans' groups, six for nonprofit organizations and five for universities.

OREGON HEALTH AUTHORITY: After several postponements, the House gave final legislative approval to this budget and related fee increases. The budget passed, 42-18, and the fee bill, 37-23.

The agency was split from the Department of Human Services and will oversee the Oregon Health Plan for more than 500,000 low-income Oregonians, mental health, public health, and alcohol and drug programs. Of its total two-year budget of $11.9 billion, $1.7 billion will come from the tax-supported general fund; much of the rest is in federal funds.

The budget assumes that $7 million in other health programs will be supported through an increase in the medical-marijuana patient card from $100 to $200 annually, and a new fee of $100 for caregivers designated to grow marijuana.

HOOKAH LOUNGES: The Senate approved a bill to curb hookah lounges. But House Bill 2726, which went back to the House on an 18-11 vote, contains other changes that critics say opens loopholes in Oregon's 2007 ban on indoor smoking cigarettes.

One change would ban new hookah lounges, where flavored tobaccos are smoked in a club-like atmosphere, only when the bill is signed by Gov. Kitzhaber. Critics said that could spur applicants to try to get in under the wire. The other change would allow cigar bars in buildings that share walls with other businesses; under current law, new cigar bars must be in stand-alone buildings.

Existing hookah lounges have been allowed under a smoke-shop exemption that allows indoor smoking cigarettes, but only to sample products. They would be allowed to continue, but the bill would impose restrictions that would make it difficult for new ones to open.

Village Hears From Owners Of Proposed Hookah Lounge

In addition to the public hearings about outdoor dining and the request for solutions about the fire department budget, the village continued a public hearing at the board meeting on Monday, June 6, this time with the owners, RSM Lounges, and their attorney for a special use permit for a hookah lounge.

RSM Lounges will occupy the two vacant storefronts on Conklin Street, west of Main Street, adjacent to the Library Café, which have been largely vacant. The location has been home to a dress shop, an insurance agency, and several other businesses that have since closed or failed.

The use is not new to the Main Street area. The village already has a cigar shop on Main Street with a smoking cigarettes room on its premises. The owners’ attorney likened a hookah lounge to a social service café like Starbucks. The proposed name of the hookah lounge is Lava Lounge.

One of the three owners explained the concept of hookah. It is a non-nicotine cigarettes that is prepared in a bowl, covered with aluminum and heated on charcoals. As it cools, the smoke cigarettes can be puffed, not inhaled, similar to smoking cigarettes a cigar. It is puffed through a water pipe, which filters the smoke.

The tobacco can be flavored with fruits or other herbs, honey and molasses. Patrons use their own mouth tip that is sold individually wrapped and discarded after a one-time use. The main equipment, the bowls and tubes, are sterilized after each use. Each serving will cost between $10 to $20, lasting approximately one hour.

The HVAC unit from the establishment will be amended so no smoke cigarettes and odor will be emitted into the air.

Mayor Butch Starkie asked the owners to explain how they would ensure that patrons were of legal age. The owners plan to employ a doorman, who will be using a digital identification scanner to ensure patrons are of legal age. Patrons will be at least 19 years old, he said.

The maximum occupancy would be 70 patrons. The owners of Lava Lounge proposed to be open seven days a week from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. on weekdays, and to 4 a.m. on weekends. Peak operation would be after work hours, 5 to 7 p.m. Beverages, like soda, smoothies, coffee and tea will be served.

One of the three owners explained their reasoning for wanting to open a social establishment, such as a hookah lounge, in the downtown Farmingdale area. He said, when he was a student at Farmingdale State College there was not a lot for students who were not of legal drinking age to do in the downtown area. Their proposed hookah lounge would include students in the age demographic of patrons of hookah lounges in general, 19 to 25 years old. He explained the convenience of having the train nearby and the area restaurants and other businesses that his patrons may use while they are in the downtown area, a multi-use visit to the walkable Main Street area.

The hookah lounges are a growing trend, especially in metropolitan areas in the past five years. Queens seems to be the popular place for Long Island residents to go to visit a hookah shop, although there are approximately four businesses in Nassau County, and a couple in Suffolk County that provide the hookah experience.

One resident asked if their equipment would be inspected regularly. The owners confirmed that the Department of Health would regularly inspect their practices. Another resident asked the board if this special use permit is encouraging smoking cigarettes. The Mayor agreed, but reminded that it is free will, patrons and non-patrons make the choice to smoke cigarettes or not.

The public hearing was closed and the special use permit was approved with a vote of three to two, with conditions still to be discussed such as the hours of operation.

The next public board of trustees meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 5 at 8 p.m. at Village Hall, 361 Main Street, in the conference room. It will be preceded by a work session, beginning at 7 p.m. Copies of the past minutes and future agendas can be found on the village website. Regular meetings are typically on the first Monday of each month at 8 p.m.

Lawmakers Try To Plug Loophole Allowing Hookah Lounges

Al Narah, Eugene's newest hookah lounge, may have opened in the nick of time.

If Oregon lawmakers pass House Bill 2726, new hookah bars would be banned from opening, but the 62 existing lounges statewide plus any established before July would be grandfathered in.

"We won't have to worry about the law even if it passed," Al Narah manager Jesse Lascano said as smoke cigarettes billowed out from the corner of his mouth.

Hookah bars are shops where customers indulge in smoking cigarettes varied cigarettes products using the tall water pipes.

The bill, which has cleared the Oregon House of Representatives, would tighten a loophole in Oregon's Smokefree Workplace Law, which allows people in smoke cigarettes shops to sample the tobacco.

Under the proposed changes, hookah lounges and smoke cigarettes shops wouldn't be allowed to provide seating for more than four people, essentially making it impossible for new hookah lounges to be created.

Outside of his shop at 1530 Willamette St., Lascano inhaled tobacco from a blue hookah, a tall water pipe complete with valves and hoses.

"It's really a fun, laid back sort of thing," Lascano said.

Since it officially started serving smokers three weeks ago, the hookah lounge has become popular among some, including University of Oregon student Alysah Dahlstrom.

"This is a great place to come and relax," Dahlstrom said. "Last night, a friend and I came here and worked on our chemistry homework. It's a lot more comfortable than the library."

But not everyone has welcomed Al Narah and its tobacco fumes to the neighborhood.

"In Eugene, we have people who understand hookah, but there are always a few who don't get what we're doing," Lascano said.

Eve Terran is one such resident. In a letter to The Register-Guard, Terran described an "assault of smoke cigarettes and unpleasant, toxic smells" as she walked by the shop. Terran said she's disappointed that the city hasn't worked harder to protect the health of its citizens.

"There has been a violation of our protections, and I ask that the city and community step up and correct this," Terran wrote.

But Eugene under its current ordinances doesn't have the power to prohibit Al Narah, or Eugene's other hookah lounge, Mirage, at 2164 W. Seventh Ave., from opening.

The loophole in Oregon's Smokefree Workplace Law allows hookah lounges. In 2009, the law was amended to prohibit indoor smoking cigarettes in nearly all workplaces, except for smoke cigarettes shops and cigar bars; hookah bars are considered smoke cigarettes shops.

The state defines smoke cigarettes shops as free-standing businesses that generate 75 percent or more of their revenue from selling tobacco, and that don't sell alcohol or lottery tickets.

The legal process for Al Narah to become a smoke cigarettes shop took months, but the certification was essential if Al Narah wanted to establish itself as a smoking cigarettes lounge.

"We were losing money for months when we didn't have our smoke cigarettes shop license," Lascano said. "You can't make enough money really just selling the stuff. People need a place to enjoy it."

When it was conceived, the law wasn't meant to provide places for recreational smoking cigarettes. It was intended to allow customers to sample expensive cigars or tobacco products before they splurged.

Lawmakers apparently didn't anticipate the loophole being used to justify the creation of hookah lounges.

"Hookah lounges weren't sweeping the nation like they are now when the law was drafted," said Stephanie Young-Peterson, Lane County Public Health Department tobacco prevention coordinator. "Most people hadn't even heard of such a thing."

Young-Peterson said hookah smoke cigarettes can be even more harmful than cigarette smoke. "Smoking hookah for an hour is the equivalent to smoking cigarettes 100 discount cigarettes in a day," she said.

The city of Eugene had planned on proposing a work session to possibly tighten up the city ordinance and make it tougher for hookah lounges to open up. But Rachelle Nicholas, the city's code enforcement supervisor, said such discussions have been postponed until after the Legislature concludes any action it might take.

"There's no reason to do the same thing at the city level if the state is already in the process of closing the loophole," she said.

In the meantime, area businesses such as Willamette Artisans Jewelry and Designs, a neighbor of Al Narah, seem to accept the arrival of a hookah shop next door.

"My only concern was that it might attract unsavory characters to the area," owner Tanya Gunter said. "But hey, we're a business, they're a legal business, and as far as I'm concerned they have every right to be there."

Oregon Lawmakers Aim To Limit Growth Of Hookah Lounges

As Oregon lawmakers and advocacy groups have sought to make the state's indoor buildings smoke cigarettes free, they say one type of business was unintentionally exempted from the rules -- hookah lounges.

Hookah lounges are popular among college-age kids, who frequent the businesses to hang out, study and socialize while smoking cigarettes flavored cigarettes from water pipes.

Last week, the Oregon House approved new rules that would allow existing hookah lounges to remain open while essentially squashing efforts to open any new ones.

Some lawmakers, like the bill's sponsor Rep. Carolyn Tomei, D-Milwaukie, had hoped to shut down the lounges altogether.

"Many kids do not even realize that it is tobacco," Tomei said. "They don't sense the dangers when the hookah is flavored and sweetened like melon or peach."

Tomei said the lounges undermine efforts to educate teens about the hazards of smoking cigarettes. But she admitted that getting the bill through an evenly-divided Oregon House required compromise.

House Bill 2726 would allow currently certified tobacco shops, cigar shops and hookah lounges to continue operating, but creates stiff restrictions on the type of shops that could open in the future.

New shops would have a maximum seating capacity of only four people and would be prohibited from selling food and drinks.

Rami Jouni, of the Oregon Hookah Association, said that while the twice-amended bill would put more restrictions on lounges, it keeps businesses open and people employed.

"The original bill was going to shut down our dreams, everything we've built in the last two or three years," said Jouni, who owns the three-year-old Beirut Lounge in Tigard. "People have poured their life savings into these businesses believing it was a secure investment."

Jouni, whose college degree is in computer science, decided to open a hookah lounge after his job at a local company was eliminated during the recession.

"I decided to do something that brought some of my culture to my new home," said Jouni, a native of Lebanon who has lived in the United States for nearly a decade.

Hookahs are water pipes that originated in ancient Persia and India and typically come in fruit flavors such as peach and melon or in ones that resemble alcoholic beverages such as strawberry daiquiri and margarita. Lounge customers, or those who purchase the flavored tobacco called "shisha," must be 18 and older. Lounges do not serve alcohol.

Tomei and others became more involved in the issue after the Oregon Public Health Division's Tobacco Prevention and Education Program released a study in November that showed growth in hookah smoking cigarettes among teens.

According to the study, the prevalence of hookah smoking cigarettes increased among Oregon eighth and 11th graders between 2008 and 2009, according to Oregon Healthy Teens survey data. Also, the air quality inside hookah lounges ranged from moderate to hazardous according to the Environmental Protection Agency Air Quality Index.

After facing vocal opposition to the original version of the bill, Tomei negotiated a deal with the Oregon Hookah Association and representatives of advocacy groups like the American Lung Association.

All the groups support the latest version of the bill.

"It may not be what I want, but people followed the rules and invested in a business," said Rep. Val Hoyle, D-Eugene, who spoke in support of the bill on the House floor. "We can't say that for the greater good, we will take what you have invested and close you down."

HB 2726 received support from nearly all Democrats, but only about one-third of House Republicans. Some expressed concern that the bill would create a monopoly for the current shops and could discourage people from opening tobacco businesses.

"I think in trying to stop the proliferation of hookah bars, we should avoid crushing cigar and smoke cigarettes shops," said Rep. Matt Wingard, R-Wilsonville.

Wingard isn't the only one concerned about the consequences of the bill. HB 2726 now heads to the Oregon Senate, where it is likely to face additional amendments.

In Sen. Chris Telfer's Bend-area district, a cigar shop that met Oregon laws before the state implemented new smoke cigarettes shop legislation in 2009 lost certification because the shop doesn't have its own separate building.

Telfer, a Republican, had been working on a bill that would allow cigar shops in that situation to continue operating despite the new rules. That bill died in committee, but Tiffany Telfer, the senator's daughter and chief of staff, said they plan on putting that idea into the House bill.

"The intent of the House bill is to stop the proliferation of hookah lounges, essentially making it impossible for them to meet the new requirements," Tiffany Telfer said. "But, unfortunately, it does the same for this tobacco shop that wants to open as a smoke cigarettes shop."