Troy City Council clamps down on hookah bars

TROY (AP) -- Troy is clamping down on hookah bars, prompting worries from business owners that they'll be shut down. The Oakland Press of Pontiac and the Detroit Free Press report City Council this month set rules that establishments featuring the Arabic water pipe filled with flavored tobacco must close at midnight. They also froze the number of licenses at five. Police Chief Gary Mayer says the city's three hookah bars tally "a very disproportionate share" of police calls. Samad Yousif, who owns the Mist hookah bar, says they're working to curtail problems and should be able to stay open past midnight. Hookah smoking came to Detroit area with the first waves of Middle Eastern immigrants in the early 1900s. Hookah bars spread from Dearborn to elsewhere around Michigan. Published: Tue, May 28, 2013