Straight Talk TNT

Smoking hookah: Yes, it’s tobacco

Aug 19, 2009

DEAR STRAIGHT TALK: My 17-year-old son just left for the “hookah bar”. He said this is a popular social activity where you sit around outdoors smoking flavored tobacco from a shared water pipe. He says he’s been going to this club for almost a year. What exactly is this “hookah” trend? Isn’t flavored tobacco now illegal? And don’t you have to be 18? He insists it’s no big deal, but I’m worried he will develop a tobacco addiction and start smoking cigarettes.— Mom in Oroville, CA

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Liva 20, Oakland, CA Ask me a question

What will soon be illegal are flavored cigarettes, but flavored tobacco (hookah) is totally legal. Yes, you must be 18, but many hookah bars only card the person who “buys” the hookah, not the friends who attend with that person. People smoke hookah because it’s fun and tastes delicious. I’ve smoked a reasonable amount and am not addicted to nicotine in any form.

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Nicole 19, Arcata, CA Ask me a question

I went to hookah bars for years when I was in high school. It was the place to be. Yes, you need to be 18 but most clubs don’t card. I do smoke cigarettes now, perhaps because of these bars. Let your son know that innocent as smoking hookah seems, it can lead to serious cigarette addiction. And even though the smoke is filtered, it still isn’t good for you.

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Peter 22, Monterey, CA Ask me a question

Smoking hookah is like taking a mouthful of flavored fog. It’s smoother on the lungs than cigarettes, cigars, or pipe tobacco and I’ve never gotten even buzzed from it. It’s a way to relax and chat with friends.

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Brie 18, Ashland, OR Ask me a question

It’s a social thing. I’ve smoked hookah quite a lot and have never smoked a cigarette or had a tobacco craving of any sort.

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Ashley 21, Auburn, CA Ask me a question

I already smoke cigarettes so I don’t know if hookah is addicting, but it definitely does not get you high.

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Lennon 22, Fair Oaks, CA Ask me a question

I’ve smoked hookah occasionally and have never felt addicted to it. There is a slight high you can achieve by taking several hits in a row, but that’s from lack of oxygen. Hookah is popular because the smoke is filtered and cooled (it goes through ice-water like a bong), so you can inhale without feeling an inkling of a cough. However, I’ve stopped smoking it heavily because I wake up feeling hung-over.

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Mariah 17, Collinsville, OK Ask me a question

I’ve never heard of a hookah “bar” — but the people I know who smoke from a hookah aren’t smoking tobacco!

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Betsy 21, Durham, NH Ask me a question

In New England, owning a hookah pipe is more common than going to a hookah bar. I’ve been to hookah bars a couple of times and judging from the hemp necklaces and dreads, it attracts the same crowd that smokes weed.

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Julian 17, Auburn, CA Ask me a question

I’ve never felt a craving for a cigarette even though I’ve smoked hookah a few times. Because hookah is exotic, it seems less harmful — but it’s not.

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Maureen 17, Redding, CA Ask me a question

Hookah bars are the new place to be in college towns and urban areas. Some have non-tobacco hookah for those under 18.

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Lauren Ask me a question

DEAR ORVILLE: The info from the panel is correct. However, to clarify a couple of points: Most hookah lounges do not offer “non-tobacco” hookah because smoking dried leaf matter (unless that leaf is tobacco) is a tough sell no matter how much candy and flavorings are pounded in. I can safely bet that your underage son is smoking real tobacco. Secondly, despite what most of the panel perceives, smoking hookah is NOT a safe, non-addictive alternative to cigarettes. Hookah has been smoked for centuries in the Middle East and the same maladies reported with cigarettes abound, including nicotine addiction. Hookah is smooth, tasty — and extremely deceptive. It’s still tobacco with all tobacco’s problems.

Picture of Lauren Forcella

Editor’s Web Note: The back-story to this column is that I took a research field trip to a hookah bar with Lennon, Laura, and Dominic, three of the local college-aged panelists. Wow, candy-flavored tobacco really is tasty and it really was as smooth as inhaling “flavored fog”. All was well until the next day. I woke up croaking like Lucinda Williams with a headache that morphed into a migraine reminiscent of the headaches/nausea I got as an 18-year-old on nights of smoking too many cigarettes. I know… yuck…

According to the World Health Organization, a typical one-hour session of hookah smoking exposes the user to the equivalent of 100 to 200 cigarettes. It’s because you can inhale such huge volumes of smoke per puff… it’s that smooth. This claim is widely scoffed at by users, but I think most are too inexperienced to recognize nicotine and tobacco by-product poisoning when they feel it… as opposed to me, my body knew that footprint immediately.

The music was bad, too! Mostly Lil’ Wayne, played loud. Oh, to be young! —Lauren

Comments

  1. By Zach from California, USA on 05/13/2010

    Lauren is right about the nicotine addiction and such. I have never had hookah myself but have been around my friends doing it. Tobacco is just that, tobacco, no matter how you smoke it or how many times you filter it through water. I would also like to point out that hookah is a door-way drug to other drugs such as cigarettes and weed. I have personal friends who started with hookah and matured to weed. It wasn’t fun to watch my respected friends change like that. I would advise parents to at least educate their children on hookah, let them know it is a drug and like ALL drugs it is not safe in excess. Just like cigarettes and alcohol, there is a minimum age to purchase and use, but it doesn’t make it right or smart. Don’t buy into the misconception that hookah is safe, and don’t let your kids do it either.

  2. By Dmitry from Ukraine on 07/25/2010

    I think hookahs are not as bad as ?igarettes because you shouldn’t smoke them every day like cigarettes. It’s not bad if you smoke it twice year for example

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