Boston students love hookah, and every Thursday night hundreds of them hit the town and go to smoking lounges to engage in some therapeutic apple-flavored smoke inhalation. Sadly, this tried-and-true collegiate pastime activity may become a thing of the past – if the Boston Public Health Commission gets its way.

On September 4th, the Boston Public Health Commission approved a tobacco ruling that would prevent new smoking lounges from opening up in the city and close the ones that are currently open in five years if it becomes a law in November.

The Daily Free Press reports:

Hookah and cigar bars had been previously exempt from the 2003 regulation if they could prove that more than 60 percent of their revenue came from tobacco, Fazendeiro said.

 

"The reason we eliminated that exception was because we found that a lot of people were fudging their numbers," she said. "It's another added step to eliminate any loopholes for people to conveniently have smoking in their establishments."

 

Though consumer health will benefit from the ruling, Fazendeiro said the provision is meant to protect employees from overexposure to second-hand smoke.

Wait – protect the employees of a smoking lounge from… smoke?! 

Is Boston going to outlaw cheeseburgers next to protect the employees of McDonalds who stuff their faces all day from the risks of heart attack?

At this point, that type of legislation wouldn’t surprise anyone -- would it?