When will the new smoking ban go into effect for area restaurants?”
Smoking ban has some restaurants fired up Set to go into effect Dec. 1, the state’s ban could completely snuff restaurants that offer hookah. BLACKSBURG — Groups of people, many college-age, sit talking, working, eating and playing board games from the lounge’s collection. One group discusses politics while another works on a school assignment, books spread on the table. What separates She-Sha Cafe and Hookah Lounge from any other bar is the tall, multi-stemmed glass pipes filled with flavored tobacco and giving off the sweet smell and haze of smoke on each table. The pipes, called hookahs, are the bread and butter of establishments such as She-Sha. But come Dec. 1, the scene in the downtown Blacksburg lounge will be very different because of Virginia’s new smoking ban, which was signed into law in March. Under the new law, smoking, including hookah, is banned in all restaurants and bars. The law allows smoking in private clubs, outdoor areas of bars and restaurants, or in ventilated,
