What Is A Hookah?

A Middle Eastern tradition that's moved into the Hawkeye state is sparking some heated debate.

If you haven't seen a hookah before now, it will definitely get your attention as it's turning a lot of heads and some of those belong to lawmakers.

The shop is called the Chicha Shack and you'll find it in the campus town next to ISU in Ames, Iowa. It looks like any other store from the street.. But inside is an eye opener.

It came from the Middle East, the hookah. The hookah is a water pipe with tubes that stands a little less than three feet tall. And it's used for smoking flavored tobacco. As different as it might seen, it's part of everyday life in the Middle East.

"You can go to a restaurant after lunch,you can order a hookah, you go to the park, public places, you order hookah, you go to a wedding reception, dancing, drinking.. You order hookah.. It's
everywhere,' Mohamed Ali, owner of the business said,

And now everywhere includes Iowa. For $10 you pick your flavored tobacco. Mohamed Ali, owner, then picks and packs the pipe and readies the charcoal.. Then it's time to smoke.

But the smoke coming out of these pipes is creating a fire with at least one Iowa lawmaker.. He hopes it doesn't become a tradition here.

"They use fruit flavored tobacco and do deliver nicotine probably breaking the blood brain barrier faster than traditional modes of nicotine delivery and we discovered that because of how they're made.. In essence they're bongs. They don't fall under the definition of cigarettes in the code," said Iowa Legislator Kevin McCarthy.

It means hookah bars like this one are not part of a state wide sales to minors enforcement scheme. Police conduct sting operations at least once a year on businesses that sell cigarettes. Hookah bars could slip under the radar as things stand now. But McCarthy is pushing for change.

"A new permitting system for all tobacco products and that would cover the hookah situation subjecting them to the sales to minor enforcement scheme that everyone else has to," McCarthy said.

Until now, Mohamed says he's done everything the state has asked him to do. A tobacco distributor permit and a sign warning minors to steer clear hang on his wall. He even has a no
smoking section to stay in compliance with the laws. Either way, this ISU business management senior will not let the light go out on his new business.

"Whatever the state says, I'm with the state, I would never disagree with them," Mohamed said.

But the story doesn't end here. If you think this is just a trend you'll see in a college town.. Think again. You might see a hookah bar on a corner near you.

"In the future, I'm planning to expand, so hopefully we'll have one in Sioux City," Mohamed said.

In addition to Sioux City, Mohamed says he wants to open Chicha Shacks in Des Moines, Iowa City, and Cedar Rapids.