The Risk of Being Hooked on the Hookah

Waterpipes – known as hookahs, shishas, or bongs – are Middle East imports that are growing in popularity among young folk, according to Virginia Commonwealth University researchers. Flavored or sweetened tobacco is heated over charcoal, and then cooled through a bowl of water before being inhaled via a tube. A report in the Journal of Adolescent Health gives the results of a survey of 744 first-year students on this topic.

Waterpipe tobacco smoking within the last 30 days was reported by 20% of the students; 40% had had used a waterpipe in the previous year. The users were more likely to be men than women. And they were more likely to believe waterpipe tobacco to be less harmful than cigarette smoking, compared with non-users. In fact, however, each puff of a waterpipe has as much as 100 times the smoke from a cigarette, and has added fumes from the charcoal, that may themselves be carcinogenic. So don’t be fooled when the water-pipe smoker tells you that the water removes the dangerous substances from tobacco. It may be cool, but it’s still risky.

Comments

[Rick House]

Good article! People need to be educated with facts; not hearsay. There are much safer alternatives, such as e-cigs, but hookas are definitely not safe by any stretch of the imagination.