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you need more force to pull air through the high resistance of the <br />water pathway. That means the tobacco smoke can be penetrating <br />deeper in a person's respiratory tract than cigarette smoke does. <br />The damage could be even worse than seen in cigarette smokers, <br />but we haven't done studies long enough to quantify the true cancer <br />risk." <br />10. According to Dr. Loffredo, another concern is that hookah use may <br />represent a loophole around city and state laws banning smoking in <br />public places. <br />11. While California Labor Code section 6404.5 generally bans indoor <br />smoking at restaurants and bars, it exempts smoking inside retail or <br />wholesale tobacco shops and private smokers' lounges. Many <br />hookah bar owners claim they are tobacco retailers and state law <br />does not clearly repudiate this claim. This allows tobacco smoking <br />inside establishments where people work, eat and drink. Hookah <br />smoking is not a safe alternative to smoking tobacco. Smoking <br />hookah pipes has been reported to cause oral, esophageal and <br />lung cancer, as well as heart disease, chronic bronchitis and of <br />course, nicotine addiction. <br />12. According to a report authored by Dr. Kamlesh Asotra, Ph.D., for <br />the University of California Tobacco Related Disease Program, <br />hookah parlors create unique problems of second hand smoke, due <br />to the increased presence of carbon monoxide (CO), which is <br />present both in the tobacco smoke and the burning of charcoal <br />indoors to ignite the tobacco. Dr. Asotra reports that "It is becoming <br />increasingly clear that, like tobacco smoking, mainstream hookah <br />smoke and second-hand hookah smoke cause deleterious effects <br />on reproductive systems in men and women and produce <br />genotoxic, mutagenic, and teratogenic effects on babies of smoking <br />parents." Many commercial tenant spaces in Santa Ana share a <br />ventilation system with other spaces within the same building, thus <br />allowing second hand smoke from hookahs to propagate <br />throughout an entire building. <br />13. The California Legislature approved a bill this year, AB 1467, which <br />would have expressly banned hookah parlors throughout California. <br />This bill, which would have additionally banned cigar lounges, and <br />smoking in hotel lobbies and meeting rooms, was vetoed by the <br />Governor on October 14, 2007. <br />E. If hookah parlors are permitted in the City, they will pose a serious threat <br />to the public health, safety and general welfare for the following reasons: <br />Ordinance No. NS-2763 <br />Page 3 of 7 <br />