David Gildeh

Following on from my previous blog on this issue, today the smoking ban came into force across the UK, and although this is a great thing, unfortunately Shisha was included in the ban as the petition didn’t get anywhere close the number of signatures it needed to get this issue raised (the final count is 9,566). I don’t think the final count is because only 9,566 people in the whole UK cared about this issue, but more because not enough campaining was done to make people aware of the petition.

It’s a shame, in Washington DC and other US cities where there is a smoking ban, it is really refreshing to go into a club and not get covered in smoke, but they are at least progressive enough to understand that Shisha bars are unique and should be exempt from the ban, so you can still go to Adams Morgan and enjoy shisha with your friends!

However, not all is lost, after talking to shisha cafe owners in London, it appears shisha will still be available in the limited outside seating that some places have on the street, however with our London weather I’d hate to be outside smoking shisha in the freezing rain!

So anyway, thanks for everyone who did support the petition, and sorry to everyone like myself who now only have the option of drinking alcohol with our friends after work. A great idea by the same government who claims to be fighting our binge drinking culture!