SD Hookah Lounge No Longer Selling Alcohol

A hookah lounge in western South Dakota has temporarily quit serving alcohol while it readies for a court battle with authorities over the state's smoking ban.

Lawyer Stephen Wesolick is representing Ifrit's Hookah Lounge in a temporary injunction asking that police be forbidden from ticketing the lounge for selling both alcohol and tobacco products. Wesolick says he filed the injunction Monday as a "temporary measure until we get in front of the judge."

The hookah lounge has been embroiled in a controversy with Rapid City police and Pennington County officials who say that the business is violating the state's smoking ban. The ban exempts retail tobacco stores if they don't allow alcohol consumption.

Rapid City police checked Ifrit's Monday and found it has halted alcohol sales, at least for now.