I have been to a Middle Eastern Restaurant in Ohio where tobbaco was smoked out of a hookah. The hookah was on top of a table in plain view of the large front window.
I don’t see how it can be illegal if there is no proof (i.e. residue) that the paraphenalia has been used for an illegal purpose (using drugs).
This does not mean that you will not be arrested and prosecuted for it. An overzealous or ignorant officer, prosecuter and judge can probably arrest, prosecute and convict you of it. I imagine that it could be fought and won though. However as it would probably amount to little more than a ticket, I don’t imagine many people would fight it. I probably would but I have been known to have an overdeveloped sense of justice and would have a hard time letting it go even though it might end up costing much more to fight it.
We have the paraphernalia law here, too, but apparently they aren’t too serious about enforcing it, because in the local entertainment paper, there are plenty of ads for “tobacco” water pipes, etc., usually at places that also happen to carry whipped cream dispenser cartridges in bulk as well as herbal detox products. I know whenever I smoke my tobacco water pipe, I go thru a lot of whipped cream.
I know in my town there are no obstacles to buying paraphernalia. I’ve seen three “tobacco product” stores along the main street… the largest sells shirts, jewelry, and has a separate room for the “smoke shop”; another doubles as a porn store and is open 24 hours a day.
They seem to have no problem selling crack pipes, huge bongs, gas masks, etc as long as they put stickers on the counter that say “You will be kicked out of the store if you use any of these terms: bong, hash pipe, pot pipe, crack pipe, coke spoon, shaker vial, or any other illegal reference. If you don’t know what to call something, point.”
My friend has had the idea of buying a fresh clean “tobacco water pipe”, maybe a 5-footer, and walking down the street smoking tobacco with it. I suspect that if he tried it, they’d confiscate it, test it, and have no choice but to give it back.