Spring Break
Hook yourself up with hookah knowledge
To Health With It
Issue date: 11/15/07
Smoking is bad for you. No one debates that. It clogs up your lungs, fills them with tar, makes it harder to breathe, turns your snot gray and makes kissing gross.
Then why is smoking a hookah such a common alternative to cigarettes on college campuses?
Many people are under the impression that smoking a hookah is much cleaner and healthier because you're sharing the smoke with others and it has been filtered through water.
The taste is sweet and clean, and the consistency is less heavy. It feels like steam and doesn't leave much of a lingering odor, so it must be healthier than cigarettes, right?
Don't be fooled. Smoking a hookah can be just as detrimental to your health as common cancer sticks.
A hookah is water pipe that originated in India and then spread to the Middle East - thus the iconic image of old bearded Persian men seated on cushions, passing the pipe and exhaling hoops of smoke.
Most hookahs look like tall, oddly shaped hourglasses with pipes sticking out. The hourglass part consists of a bowl, a base and a hose. At the top of the hookah, the bowl contains the tobacco, molasses and flavoring collectively known as shisha. Atop that sits a burning coal.
The hose connects the bowl to the base of the hookah, which contains some water. Another hose sticks out of the base and is attached to the mouthpiece.
The smoker inhales through the mouthpiece, sucking smoke out of the base. Air travels through the coal and then the tobacco. The hot smoke travels down the connecting pipe into the water at the base. There it is pulled through the water, out the pipe and deep into the lungs of the smoker.
It is a common belief that when the smoke is pulled through the water, all the bad chemicals are absorbed, dissolved and in general filtered out. This is not the case. The hookah smoke is still filled with nicotine and carcinogens. Many smokers experience light-headedness because of carbon monoxide.
In 2005, the World Health Organization released a report stating that use of a water pipe to smoke tobacco is not a safe alternative to cigarette smoking.
Then why is smoking a hookah such a common alternative to cigarettes on college campuses?
Many people are under the impression that smoking a hookah is much cleaner and healthier because you're sharing the smoke with others and it has been filtered through water.
The taste is sweet and clean, and the consistency is less heavy. It feels like steam and doesn't leave much of a lingering odor, so it must be healthier than cigarettes, right?
Don't be fooled. Smoking a hookah can be just as detrimental to your health as common cancer sticks.
A hookah is water pipe that originated in India and then spread to the Middle East - thus the iconic image of old bearded Persian men seated on cushions, passing the pipe and exhaling hoops of smoke.
Most hookahs look like tall, oddly shaped hourglasses with pipes sticking out. The hourglass part consists of a bowl, a base and a hose. At the top of the hookah, the bowl contains the tobacco, molasses and flavoring collectively known as shisha. Atop that sits a burning coal.
The hose connects the bowl to the base of the hookah, which contains some water. Another hose sticks out of the base and is attached to the mouthpiece.
The smoker inhales through the mouthpiece, sucking smoke out of the base. Air travels through the coal and then the tobacco. The hot smoke travels down the connecting pipe into the water at the base. There it is pulled through the water, out the pipe and deep into the lungs of the smoker.
It is a common belief that when the smoke is pulled through the water, all the bad chemicals are absorbed, dissolved and in general filtered out. This is not the case. The hookah smoke is still filled with nicotine and carcinogens. Many smokers experience light-headedness because of carbon monoxide.
In 2005, the World Health Organization released a report stating that use of a water pipe to smoke tobacco is not a safe alternative to cigarette smoking.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Rucker
posted 11/23/07 @ 9:38 PM EST
Wow, is this the same lisa I met last weekend - the one from Rockville?
Rucker's Roommate
posted 5/18/08 @ 9:09 PM EST
Hey Lisa, it was fun seeing you this weekend.
-Clifford
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