Hookahs a health hazard?

Hookahs a health hazard?

Tobacco foes target lounges; fans call fears a smoke screen

By Cheryl Clark
STAFF WRITER
San Diego Union Tribune

June 15, 2006

Hookahs, those exotic water-pipe contraptions funneling smoke from fruit-flavored tobacco, molasses and coal into young smokers' lungs, may be far more dangerous than regular cigarettes.

That was the message yesterday from anti-tobacco advocates who held a forum in San Diego. They want the region's more than 20 hookah lounges, many of them located near high schools and colleges, to be tightly regulated.

(snip)

The report said that during a typical 20-to 80-minute hookah session, a person may take 50 to 200 puffs of smoke, and that each session produces about as much smoke as the amount received from smoking 100 cigarettes.

While the water in a hookah absorbs some nicotine, the WHO report said hookah smokers can still inhale enough nicotine to cause addiction. Also, the smoke produced by these water pipes contains high levels of toxic compounds, including carbon monoxide, heavy metals and cancer-causing chemicals, the report said.

(snip)


Find this article at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060615/news_1n15hookah.html

I guess there's no point in killing all them A-rabs, they're doing it to themselves!

. . . if you like it and it's fun and social and involves anything other than Yoga, it's probably going to kill you.

so warnings are in order: the quantity of smoke inhaled is going to be greater and it's going to be inhaled deeper because it's been cooled off and made far less harsh by the device.

Other than that, let 'em be stupid. I was, although it didn't extend to tobacco. Being stupid is one of the greatest joys of youth. It's harder to get away with once you're stodgy and settled.

Besides, the whole purpose of one of those bars is smoking. Smokers need someplace indoors to go, right?

That hookah lounges are typically populated by Arabs, right? Geez, like the feds aren't all over those freakin places already?

Right agent Mike?

Next thing you know, beef pepperoni and beef sausage will be banned.

Racists.

and I think he picked it up in Israel, so it's not all Arabs.

It's just a new fad for trendy young things.

Some of them will get hurt. Most will survive.

i started it in Egypt and brought it back with me. I was even a hookah tender in a bar in San Diego.

They are bad for you. I can tell you that. They felt cleaner than cigarettes but they worked my lungs over time. i was waiting for this report.

and seeing a hookah store. I was young at the time and didn't really understand what they were but I still wanted one.

:shrug:

tobacco is a vascular constrictor, whereas pot is a bronchial dilator...not all smoke is created equal.

To quote my avatar, when he was told to put out a cigarette while on a plane, "You body nazis have had your way long enough!"