Mayor Ed Murray's crackdown on hookah lounges is possibly being reconsidered. PubliCola reported that Murray’s administration would be meeting with the owners of Seattle’s 11 hookah lounges Thursday or Friday in order to work out what changes the clubs could make in order to come into compliance with the law. “Compliance,” according to a spokesperson for the mayor, could include transitioning from a public to a private establishment or phasing out tobacco in favor of steam stones. No word on how taking the tobacco out of hookah lounges will reduce their supposed violence.
Thursday afternoon, members of the ACLU sent a letter to Murray urging him to delay enacting the hookah lounge ban. "Punishing business owners for the criminal actions of people outside of their establishments is unfair and ineffective," reads the letter. The organization's call for a delay echoes that of Councilmember Nick Licata who recently circulated a petition asking for a 60 day moratorium on shutting down hookah lounges.
