Two hookah bars challenged a law that prohibits smoking or burning substances in commercial establishments. The court found that the law applied to the hookah bars because warming of herbal shisha was considered “burning”. The court rejected arguments that the smoking law was overly broad and that it violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom, finding no connection between smoking hookahs and religion.
Vancouver (City) v. Abdiannia, 2015 BCSC 1058 (CanLII).
Tobacco companies or front groups may challenge any legislative or regulatory measure that affects their business interests. Unlike public interest litigation, these cases seek to weaken health measures. These cases frequently involve the industry proceeding against the government. For example, a group of restaurant owners challenging a smoke free law as unconstitutional.
Government, through its agencies and officials including prosecutors, may seek to enforce its health laws. For example, the government may revoke the license of a retailer that sells tobacco products to minors. These cases may also directly involve the tobacco industry, for example, a government might impound and destroy improperly labeled cigarette packs.
A single or multi-stemmed instrument for vaporizing and smoking flavored tobacco (shisha or sheesha) or other products in which the vapor or smoke is passed through a water basin ‒ often glass-based ‒ before inhalation. Water pipes are known by a variety of names such as hookah, huqqah, nargilah, nargile, arghila, and qalyan.
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"In my view, the respondent City, on appeal, has provided a complete, and satisfactory, answer to this whole argument: "… even if this Court concludes that the trial judge erred by finding that the herbal shisha is burned in a hookah pipe, it is inescapable that the mere burning of the charcoal in the hookah pipe is enough to result in a finding that ‘any other substance’ is ‘burned’, the smoke of which is inhaled within the meaning of the by-law. The evidence on this point is not in dispute."
Limitations regarding the use of quotes The quotes provided here reflect statements from a specific decision. Accordingly, the International Legal Consortium (ILC) cannot guarantee that an appellate court has not reversed a lower court decision which may influence the applicability or influence of a given quote. All quotes have been selected based on the subjective evaluations undertaken by the ILC meaning that quotes provided here may not accurately or comprehensively represent a given court’s opinion or conclusion, as such quotes may have originally appeared alongside other negative opinions or accompanying facts. Further, some quotes are derived from unofficial English translations, which may alter their original meaning. We emphasize the need to review the original decision and related decisions before authoritatively relying on quotes. Using quotes provided here should not be construed as legal advice and is not intended to be a substitute for legal counsel on any subject matter in any jurisdiction. Please see the full limitations at https://www.tobaccocontrollaws.org/about.
Two hookah bars challenged a law that prohibits smoking or burning substances in commercial establishments. The court found that the law applied to the hookah bars because warming of herbal shisha was considered “burning”. The court rejected arguments that the smoking law was overly broad and that it violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom, finding no connection between smoking hookahs and religion.