Church-Wellesley Village

[dt_toronto_geek]

Smoking indoors could cause a fire or get the building "smoked" up. Also it is not allowed for safety reasons. Maybe you should ask the building you want to smoke indoors why it isn't accepted in that building.

People smoked in bars, night clubs, restaurants - hell everywhere until by-laws were enacted in the past few decades to outlaw it. It's been all about second-hand smoke, not about burning the place down. I remember as a kid when my grandmother would smoke on the subway, which was permitted back in the 70's. As a teenager most cinemas had smoking areas in the back "X" rows or in the balcony, if there was one.

 

[JasonParis]

FYI...

Parklets May Not Return to Church Street Next Year

 

[JasonParis]

FYI...
Two Church Street Mainstays Sold, but Will Stay on Strip

Also of note...

It's noteworthy to mention that hookah lounges are not included as part of Toronto’s anti-smoking bylaw or the Smoke-Free Ontario Act. Toronto Public Health spokesperson Kris Scheuer says shisha is herbal.

Scheuer says Toronto Public Health is collecting research on shisha and plans to draft a report eventually on the issues and any possible health warnings.

“But for now, there's no Toronto bylaw or provincial smoke-free legislation that covers it because it’s not a tobacco product,” she says. “As far as we know, shisha does not contain tobacco.”

 

[Peepers]

FYI...
Two Church Street Mainstays Sold, but Will Stay on Strip

Also of note...

It's noteworthy to mention that hookah lounges are not included as part of Toronto’s anti-smoking bylaw or the Smoke-Free Ontario Act. Toronto Public Health spokesperson Kris Scheuer says shisha is herbal.

Scheuer says Toronto Public Health is collecting research on shisha and plans to draft a report eventually on the issues and any possible health warnings.

“But for now, there's no Toronto bylaw or provincial smoke-free legislation that covers it because it’s not a tobacco product,†she says. “As far as we know, shisha does not contain tobacco.â€

Interesting comments to the Xtra story

 

[SP!RE]

Interesting? They are racist, offensive, and alarmist.

 

[Thanos]

What's with all the hate for these hookah lounges? Cigar lounges are perfectly legal as well and yet there's no hate for them. Could it be because cigar lounges are more white oriented?

 

[khris]

I don't see any hate here at Urban Toronto in regards to these lounges. Please don't cue the racism card so easily. It's stupid. I have a problem with cigar lounges, but they are not legal, and I don't even know where one would find one operating legally as it's illegal to smoke tobacco inside an establishment in Ontario.

 

[devjohnson]

What's up with everyone pulling the race card? Have you ever been to Ryerson? We have free shisha nights on campus at the Ram In The Rye, and in attendance is a mix of all races. It's just a young crowd-drawing thing, nothing to do with race

 

[Roy G Biv]

I don't see any hate here at Urban Toronto in regards to these lounges. Please don't cue the racism card so easily. It's stupid. I have a problem with cigar lounges, but they are not legal, and I don't even know where one would find one operating legally as it's illegal to smoke tobacco inside an establishment in Ontario.

Ok, sure thing there bud:

Oh what a joke lol. I love how culture and religion is this excuse to get away with things. This is Canada. We don't have indoor smoking. Follow the rules.

 

[khris]

Ok, sure thing there bud:

Culture and religion is not race.

 

[Peepers]

Culture and religion is not race.

+ 1

 

[ttk77]

Culture and religion is not race.

While that may be technically true, that's some of the finest hair splitting that I've seen. The lines get very blurry when a particular ethnic group shares almost exclusively the same culture/religion. Whether you choose to participate or not, the cultural diversity that these types of locations provide (not specific to hookah lounges) are part of what makes Toronto great. If you go there, you're going there to partake, and even if it is as dangerous as tobacco, it harms no one that chooses not to be there.

 

[Roy G Biv]

Culture and religion is not race.

How can someone play a race card when we all belong to the same race?


See: I just out-semanticized you! +1 for me!

 

[Alistriwen]

It's nice that something small and independent opened up on the strip, regardless of what it is. Everything is being replaced with generic chain stores, anything to stop that trend is good in my opinion.

 

[androiduk]

One of the new murals on Church St.