QUOTE(zach5 @ Aug 11 2006, 10:08 AM)
Yes exactly, I have seen it first hand, however this isnt abnormal for any of these places. But do you even need a license to sell hookah?
I understand it's still a tobacco product and would assumably need the same license as selling cigarettes.
From:
http://ccap.etr.org/...ahFactSheet.docQUOTE
Under California state law, smoking tobacco -- in any form, flavored or unflavored, in a water pipe or in a cigarette or cigar – is prohibited in indoor workplaces. Therefore, hookah pipes must be smoked outside – unless the venue is proven to be owner-operated or is a bona fide “retail or wholesale tobacco shop”. California Labor Code 6404.5
Obtaining a tobacco retailer’s license does not - by itself - mean that a hookah business is a bona fide retail or wholesale tobacco shop under California law. Businesses may be required to obtain such licenses even though the sale of tobacco is not their main purpose. For instance, a foodservice workplace -- one that serves food or beverage for consumption on the premises -- is not exempt from the CA Smoke-free Workplace act, even when the establishment also sells cigarettes or hookah tobacco.
“A ‘tobacco store’ means a retail business that meets all of the following requirements: (A) Primarily sells tobacco products. (B) Generates more than 60 percent of its gross revenues annually from the sale of tobacco products and tobacco paraphernalia. © Does not permit any person under 18 years of age to be present or enter the premises at any time, unless accompanied by the person’s parent or legal guardian, as defined in Section 6903 of the Family Code. (D) Does not sell alcoholic beverages or food for consumption on the premises.” CA Business & Professions Code Section 22962 (a) (4).
The sale of tobacco -- in any form: blocks, squares, cigarettes or cigars, flavored or unflavored -- to minors under the age of 18 is illegal. California Penal Code 308 (a).
California Penal Code 308(a)
QUOTE
308. (a) Every person, firm, or corporation that knowingly or under
circumstances in which it has knowledge, or should otherwise have
grounds for knowledge, sells, gives, or in any way furnishes to
another person who is under the age of 18 years any tobacco,
cigarette, or cigarette papers, or any other preparation of tobacco,
or any other instrument or paraphernalia that is designed for the
smoking or ingestion of tobacco, products prepared from tobacco, or
any controlled substance, is subject to either a criminal action for
a misdemeanor or to a civil action brought by a city attorney, a
county counsel, or a district attorney, punishable by a fine of two
hundred dollars ($200) for the first offense, five hundred dollars
($500) for the second offense, and one thousand dollars ($1,000) for
the third offense.
...