Licensing and operation of non-tobacco hookah establishments.

This bill would repeal the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s (DOHMH)’s current permitting system for non-tobacco hookah establishments and replace it with a non-tobacco hookah establishment licensing scheme implemented by the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP). Unlike the current permitting system, the bill would allow new licenses to be granted to establishments that generate half or more of their sales from serving non-tobacco shisha. It would also allow licenses to be granted to restaurants and bars to serve non-tobacco shisha between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m. Only people aged 21 and over would be allowed entry into businesses serving non-tobacco shisha, and these businesses would still be subject to existing restrictions on tobacco, nicotine, and cannabis smoke. The bill would also amend the Fire Code and definitions related to hookah in the Administrative Code to reflect this new licensing scheme.