Photo by Erin Fredrichs / Tribune

A smoke ring drifts out of Billy Hammond's mouth after drawing a lungful of watermelon-flavored tobacco through a hookah. Hammond, 20, said he started using the traditional Middle Eastern water pipes at age 16 and now has the smoke ring perfected. He started frequenting Relux, a hookah bar on Juan Tabo Boulevard Northeast, shortly after it opened in January, he said.