By Kourtney Webb
The practice of smoking hookah has been around for centuries and over those centuries has gained traction. Although studies have shown that hookah smoking may be just as bad as or even worse than smoking cigarettes.
“Tobacco smoking in any form is very bad for your health and can cause health complications,” said Professor Deb Chakravarti, a York College chemistry professor and also director of York’s FDA Partnership and Pharmaceutical Sciences Program, in an interview.
Hookah is also known as shisha, narghile and hubble-bubble. The process involves using a water pipe to smoke flavored or sweetened tobacco.
It is a tradition that is at least 500 years old, originating in northern Africa and southwest Asia. It was mostly done in Middle Eastern countries but is now growing in popularity worldwide and is common in the United States.
Hookah smoking is catering to a new set of tobacco users. The Oxford Journal on Nicotine and Tobacco Research recently found that one in three college students has done so at some point; more than 50 percent of those students were not cigarette smokers.
“It’s very popular and is seen as a way to socialize,” Elijah Gardner, 20, a York College business major, said. “Hookah smoking is like going to a bar and having a drink with friends, instead the alcohol is replaced with hookah pipes.”
New York University’s Center for Drug Use and HIV Research states that 18 percent of students reported hookah use in the past year. Compared with white students, black students were at lower odds for use.
It has become a social norm, drawing the 18 and over crowd into the cloudy smoke-filled rooms of hookah lounges. According to a recent poll a majority of young adults 18 to 30 who smoke hookah think it’s safe.
“Hookah smoking is seen as harmless to many people because, many people think the toxins are being filtered by the water,” Chakravarti said.
Contrary to popular belief, hookah smoke is no less dangerous than cigarette smoke. A smoke session of hookah of sixty minutes delivers tar, carbon monoxide, heavy metals and cancer-causing chemicals equivalent to a pack of cigarettes. Hookah smokers are exposed to more carbon monoxide and smoke than are cigarette smokers, according to the Mayo Clinic.
“Hookah smoking is cheap and fun,” said Natasha Turner, 21, an aviation management major at York. “It’s also a good way to get friends together. Even though they both are tobacco, hookah is a social tobacco. You’re not just smoking. You’re listening to music, you’re talking and you’re having a good time.”
Many people have a greater understanding of what cigarettes can do to your body. Indoor smoking bans and tobacco product marketing restrictions have increased public awareness. Commercials portraying the outcomes of many cigarette smokers’ lives, as well as upbeat commercials like the popular "Left Swipe Dat," commercial, have decreased cigarette smoking in the United States during the past 45 years.
The practice of smoking hookah has been around for centuries and over those centuries has gained traction. Although studies have shown that hookah smoking may be just as bad as or even worse than smoking cigarettes.
“Tobacco smoking in any form is very bad for your health and can cause health complications,” said Professor Deb Chakravarti, a York College chemistry professor and also director of York’s FDA Partnership and Pharmaceutical Sciences Program, in an interview.
Hookah is also known as shisha, narghile and hubble-bubble. The process involves using a water pipe to smoke flavored or sweetened tobacco.
It is a tradition that is at least 500 years old, originating in northern Africa and southwest Asia. It was mostly done in Middle Eastern countries but is now growing in popularity worldwide and is common in the United States.
Hookah smoking is catering to a new set of tobacco users. The Oxford Journal on Nicotine and Tobacco Research recently found that one in three college students has done so at some point; more than 50 percent of those students were not cigarette smokers.
“It’s very popular and is seen as a way to socialize,” Elijah Gardner, 20, a York College business major, said. “Hookah smoking is like going to a bar and having a drink with friends, instead the alcohol is replaced with hookah pipes.”
New York University’s Center for Drug Use and HIV Research states that 18 percent of students reported hookah use in the past year. Compared with white students, black students were at lower odds for use.
It has become a social norm, drawing the 18 and over crowd into the cloudy smoke-filled rooms of hookah lounges. According to a recent poll a majority of young adults 18 to 30 who smoke hookah think it’s safe.
“Hookah smoking is seen as harmless to many people because, many people think the toxins are being filtered by the water,” Chakravarti said.
Contrary to popular belief, hookah smoke is no less dangerous than cigarette smoke. A smoke session of hookah of sixty minutes delivers tar, carbon monoxide, heavy metals and cancer-causing chemicals equivalent to a pack of cigarettes. Hookah smokers are exposed to more carbon monoxide and smoke than are cigarette smokers, according to the Mayo Clinic.
“Hookah smoking is cheap and fun,” said Natasha Turner, 21, an aviation management major at York. “It’s also a good way to get friends together. Even though they both are tobacco, hookah is a social tobacco. You’re not just smoking. You’re listening to music, you’re talking and you’re having a good time.”
Many people have a greater understanding of what cigarettes can do to your body. Indoor smoking bans and tobacco product marketing restrictions have increased public awareness. Commercials portraying the outcomes of many cigarette smokers’ lives, as well as upbeat commercials like the popular "Left Swipe Dat," commercial, have decreased cigarette smoking in the United States during the past 45 years.
The use of alternative forms of tobacco, however, is rising, threatening these successful efforts according to
JAMA Pediatrics.
Hookah Sickness or Nicotine sickness as described by Hookah.org can come with many symptoms including Dizziness, nausea and feeling of pressure in the chest.
Tameka Jackson a Registered Nurse at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center said, “Smokers should pace themselves, and make sure they are properly hydrated before they begin smoking. And if you think you are starting to feel sick, take a break and have someone walk you, to get some fresh air, hookah lounges are not usually as well ventilated as they should be.”
Different tobaccos have different nicotine levels and depending on your tolerance for the stimulant you could be faced with similar or more serious symptoms.
“I used to be a smoker,” Chakravarti said. “I quit after I realized I had smoked 80 cigarettes in one day. Hookah being a tobacco product is no better for you.”
JAMA Pediatrics.
Hookah Sickness or Nicotine sickness as described by Hookah.org can come with many symptoms including Dizziness, nausea and feeling of pressure in the chest.
Tameka Jackson a Registered Nurse at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center said, “Smokers should pace themselves, and make sure they are properly hydrated before they begin smoking. And if you think you are starting to feel sick, take a break and have someone walk you, to get some fresh air, hookah lounges are not usually as well ventilated as they should be.”
Different tobaccos have different nicotine levels and depending on your tolerance for the stimulant you could be faced with similar or more serious symptoms.
“I used to be a smoker,” Chakravarti said. “I quit after I realized I had smoked 80 cigarettes in one day. Hookah being a tobacco product is no better for you.”