Hookah Cafe Announces Spring Semester Opening

Window signs announce that the new Hookah Cafe will open in downtown College Park on Wednesday, the first day of the spring semester at the University of Maryland.

Owner Abid Khan plans to combine Middle-Eastern and Mediterranean themes, will host open-mic nights, snacks from various businesses and tobacco and non-tobacco hookah flavors, according to a September article in The Diamondback. According to the story, Khan was planning to open in November.

The hookah, also called a water-pipe, originated in Persia and India and is used to smoke specially made tobacco. There were approximately 300 hookah bars in the United States in 2006, and the popularity keeps growing, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

City Planning Director Terry Schum told The Diamondback that the café's proximity to the University of Maryland campus is an ideal spot for the tenant catering to students.

A study conducted by the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center revealed that nearly one-fifth of U.S. college students who took part in an internet survey regularly use hookahs.