What Nanny Bloomberg hath wrought. Re those smoke-filled Muslim-filled rooms in Vancouver, a New Yorker writes:

FYI, we actually have lots of hookah bars in NY city as well.. They’re becoming pretty popular as a way to get around the smoking ban, and at least in NY they aren’t just for Muslims. You can smoke a hookah with provided flavored tobacco, and most of the places look the other way if people light up a cigarette since they’re smoking hookahs in there anyway.
For the record, I don’t think they should be given an exemption out of ‘tolerance’, but then I think the whole smoking ban concept is a ridiculous government overreach, even though I don’t smoke and I can’t say I dislike the resulting smoke-free bars.

I wonder if non-Muslims using hookahs would fly in Vancouver or whether that would nullify the cultural exemption. And here’s a question I never thought I’d ask: Can you find women in hookah bars?