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Kelsey Korey
Old Gold and Black
Hookah: NOT a Safe Alternative to Cigarettes
Think you are avoiding the threatening side effects of cigarette smoking by switching to
hookah? Think again. Hookah smoking is not safer than cigarette smoking, according to Mayo
Clinic doctors. Hookah is a water pipe with a smoke chamber, bowl, pipe and hose. The
flavored tobacco used is specially heated before the smoke passes through water and is then
drawn through a rubber hose to a mouthpiece. Because smoking sessions can last as long as 60
minutes, hookah smokers can end up inhaling more tobacco than cigarette smokers. Also, the
volume of smoke inhaled during a hookah session is massive. According to the World Health
Organization, in one smoking session, the average hookah smoker inhales the equivalent of
roughly 100 cigarettes!
I know the next argument I face concerns addiction as there are rumors that you can’t get
addicted to hookah smoke. Unfortunately, that is false. It is true that the water in a hookah pipe
absorbs some of the nicotine from the tobacco, but the key word here is some. Some doesn’t
mean all! Eventually, you can inhale enough nicotine from a hookah pipe to become addicted.
Most people think the water filters out the toxins, but there is no way the water can filter out
everything.
What I really want to share are the health problems associated with hookah smoking, but
before I get there please consider this: hookah smoke contains high levels of toxic compounds
including tar (yes tar), carbon monoxide, heavy metals and cancer-causing chemicals. The heavy
metals present in hookah smoke include arsenic, chromium, lead and cobalt. There is still no
concrete evidence behind the exact effects these metals have on your body in the long term (not
much research is positive at this point though). Hookah smokers are also exposed to more carbon
monoxide than cigarette smokers. If nothing in this article changes your mind about hookah, this
just might: hookah pipes used in hookah bars and cafes are generally not cleaned properly
risking the spread of infectious diseases (herpes anyone?). Come on… that’s just plain
disgusting.
The health impacts of hookah smoking are just as dangerous and deadly as cigarettes and
tobacco. Hookah tobacco contains all of the carcinogens that lead to risks of developing cancer,
respiratory disease and heart disease. All of the nasty chemicals I described above are linked to
oral and lung cancers as well as other serious illnesses. Even secondhand hookah smoke presents
dangerous side effects in people exposed to it which means just being in a hookah bar may
jeopardize your health. It has also been proven that hookah smoke, like cigarette smoke, causes
unworthy damage to genetic cells present in the human body. These cells are damaged by
various contaminants inhaled from the smoke and it becomes difficult to reverse this process.
Understanding the health risks of smoking hookah will help you realize the hidden
dangers it possesses. Don’t get caught up in thinking that you are choosing the safer option by
smoking hookah!