Milwaukee officials want to ban hookah product sales for anyone under 21

Officials in Milwaukee want to pass a city ordinance that would ban the sale of hookah products to anyone under the age of 21.

Shisha, the material often smoked with a hookah, frequently contains tobacco, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. A 2019 federal law made the legal age to buy cigarettes, nicotine or tobacco products 21 years old.

But Wisconsin lawmakers have not passed a state law to match the federal law. Although the federal law supersedes state law, the discrepancy can still be confusing for retailers. It also limits the ability for local law enforcement to issue citations for a federal violation.

The ordinance, which on Thursday was unanimously passed by Milwaukee’s Public Safety and Health Committee, would prohibit the sale of “hookah and hookah paraphernalia” to anyone under the age of 21 in Milwaukee. It would allow Milwaukee police to hand out a $1,000 citation for anyone who sells hookah products to anyone younger than 21 in the city.

Milwaukee Alder Peter Burgelis originally tried to change the city’s ordinances to comply with the federal standard for all tobacco sales. He did so after learning Milwaukee police were not able to cite a gas station employee who had sold cigarettes to a 19-year-old.

But Assistant City Attorney Travis Gresham said officials would not be able to change the local ordinances because the state law has still not been changed.

“It’s unfortunately not in strict conformity with the state law, and it is therefore probably not legal … or enforceable,” Gresham said during Thursday’s meeting.

The 2019 federal law, known as Tobacco 21, does apply to hookah products and limits their sales to anyone under the age of 21. Because hookah products are not listed in the state law prohibiting people under the age of 18 from purchasing or possessing cigarettes or tobacco products, the city ordinance can apply to them.

“That’s the small little loophole that we can use to regulate hookah,” Burgelis said.

Burgelis said the ordinance is about public health. 

“The goal is to have a safer, healthier community where we safeguard the health and well-being of our young people,” Burgelis said.

Charlie Leonard, coalition coordinator with Milwaukee’s Tobacco-Free Alliance, said hookah bars have been expanding across the city in recent years. By Leaonard’s count, there are at least 36 establishments in Milwaukee that sell hookahs to be smoked indoors. Eighteen of those have been in operation since 2020. 

“This shows the growing popularity on offering hookahs on premise,” Leonard said during the meeting.

The ordinance would also add businesses that offer hookah products to a list of businesses that require a public entertainment premises license.

“And so by doing that, basically they’re (the city) just regulating it more … so not every person and every bar on the corner has a hookah,” said Nas Musa, the co-owner of Casablanca, a restaurant and hookah lounge on Milwaukee’s east side.

The city attorney’s office is still reviewing the ordinance. The ordinance will need to pass the full Council before it is adopted.

A statement from Jeff Fleming, a spokesperson for Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, said the mayor supports “actions to reduce tobacco use by minors and other young people.”

Previous attempts to pass a state law that would be in line with federal regulations on tobacco have failed.