Flavored tobacco out of a hookah is an interesting way to smoke, but I'm not sure why anyone thinks it's safer or less toxic. I've really never smoked cigarettes, I had a brief period in college where I tried it a bit, but the nicotine buzz wasn't really worth it. I tried smoking cloves for the novelty, the smell was better than tobacco, and the flavor was more interesting, but again, I didn't do that and think it was better than regular cigarettes, in fact they are worse. It was the same thing the couple times I tried smoking from a hookah. It was for novelty, nothing else. The flavored tobaccos were interesting, but that was about it.

People may mistakenly think smoking out of a hookah is easier on your health than regular cigarettes, but honestly, no one is smoking these days and thinking "this must be good for you". If you don't know that inhaling smoke into your lungs or mouth, or chewing on tobacco is bad for you no matter how you do it, you have to be an idiot.

its cause its easier to smoke pot in it, no rolling, and they are smaller than a average pipe so they conceal better, not to mention they've put the fire safety chemicals in cigarette papers, some get sore throats and headaches from the papers cigarettes are now rolled in, these pipes don't need the paper, just HEMP, I've yet to see a hookah with cigarette tobacco in it. the story should tell us 1 in 4 young adults smoke pot, and four out of four elderly smoke it.

F.Y.I. the water makes it so when you hit the pipe it does not burn your throat, ice works the same way. you hit it with ice and you could gag yourself cause you cannot sense how big of hit you got, smoke a joint, hit it hard and feel what it does to your throat before you start coughing you rear off.

Uh, its not real convenient to tote around a hookah... I wouldn't worry about it too much.

they are smaller than a average pipe so they conceal better

Unless you're referring to a sewer pipe, I do believe you're mistaken in this statement.

I disagree that you get more nicotine from the hookah because my friends and myself occasionally smoke hookah and have never experienced any signs or symptoms of tobacco addiction that smokers get. We have had periods where we would smoke 4 or 5 bowls a day for weeks on end and then we would quit smoking completely for months and never experience any symptoms of addiction. I think this article is just another attempt to make a news story.

On a side note, none of us have ever smoked cigarettes. Also, not that many people smoke weed in a hookah.

Both of my teens (of age) have a hookah thingy, and these stand nearly two feet tall - so unlike the old pot pipes of old, hookahs are not very portable (at least I'd be worried about breaking the glass or losing a part). We even saw some "bongs", at a street fair, that imitated the hookahs - those were much smaller, but for pot.

The kids I know using these hookahs reminds me of the concept of sharing a "peace pipe", sort of a communal sharing - and I tried it once, yawn on that. Didn't again because surely they are kind of germ laden? They might use it on a Friday or Saturday, maybe both if friends are in town. To go to a "hookah bar", they tell me it is $20 a bowl!! I should open one, geez.

It depends on the amount of use, it would seem, as to how much of a health risk there would be. I smoked cigarettes beginning at age 14 (my parents'), and finally after about 25 years (about a pack a day), quit. It may be as much nicotine from the hookah as from cigs, but my guess is for most the hookah is a novelty and used infrequently - and for sure they can't drive down the street smoking it, or walk down a sidewalk, etc., like with a cigarette. No one we know seems "hooked" on nicotine, but they are not using it often.

No governement has ever banned any substance from any population of people in the history of the world. To make more tobacco laws is simply taking away from time law enforcement could be using taking real criminals off the street

MYTH: The author of this piece knows what they're talking about.

TRUTH: Not exactly. While smoking tobacco through a water-pipe is not in any way "healthy" I fail to see how the argument can't be made that it isn't, at least MARGINALLY, better than smoking filtered cigarettes. For one thing, if you just have tobacco leaves without all the toxins and crap cigarette companies put in a filtered cigarette it can still mess you up, but at least you won't get ridiculous things like Asbestos in the filters!! Link to the story here: http://no-smoking.org/may99/05-03-99-3.html. I am an ex-smoker, and believe that smoking in any form is stupid. I certainly wouldn't DEFEND the use of water-pipes as being healthy, and benefits gained from said use are likely negligeable in the grand scheme of things considering long-term use (which is the point I *BELIEVE* the author is attempting to make), but at least be honest insted of condescending to people like they're 2yr. olds.

I really wish journalists in general were held to higher standards when quoting studies and stating facts. When I'm in school I have to quote and cite every single fact I put into a report but these people can just spew garbage 24/7 and pass it off as credible news. "Some guy somewhere said blah blah blah..." It would be nice to see embedded links to said studies since you've obviously gone to great lengths to study them before publishing your articles. That way a more in-depth look at the data can be had by those who know that data can be(and often is) manipulated to make a particular point. Again, not saying that in this case I'd expect to find that tobacco consuption in any form is healthy, just saying it would be nice to have higher standards on information presented.

Oh, just to clarify: I realize that there are several embedded links in the article, but they all point to other articles, not the studies referred to. It almost seems as though this article was just masehd together out of bits and pieces of other articles instead of being its own independent analysis of the data.

its cause its easier to smoke pot in it, no rolling, and they are smaller than a average pipe so they conceal better, not to mention they've put the fire safety chemicals in cigarette papers, some get sore throats and headaches from the papers cigarettes are now rolled in, these pipes don't need the paper, just HEMP, I've yet to see a hookah with cigarette tobacco in it. the story should tell us 1 in 4 young adults smoke pot, and four out of four elderly smoke it.

Yeah, smaller, if you`re talking about a pipe organ. Smoking hemp huh? What the hell sense would that make? You are right about one thing, I`ve never seen cigarette tobacco in one.....that would make about as much sense as pipe tobacco in a cigar. But hey, there are lots of different articles on the vine, maybe you would be more comfortable discussing one you understand.

I thought a hookah was the guy who took care of elephants.

And what? Are we supposed to be shocked and dismayed as if it's like 1 in 4 youths are shooting up. Until federal regulators want to make a stink about all the toxins we breath and ingest from industrial waste unknowingly and unwillingly, they have very little moral ground to stand on about the ones we make a conscious decision to ingest. Come back after you've taken care of industrial pollution and then we'll talk. Until then your just hypocrites who take big money bribes to look the other way for those with the cash to meet the price on your soul.

Look at the article that was just on MSN the other day about the Japanese fishing village of Tiaji where the dolphins and the people who eat them are a toxic waste dump of mercury which is more guaranteed to give you flipper squid babies than tobacco or cannabis. But that's totally OK as long as some industrialist is making a butt load of money and politicians and regulators get their share to look the other way.

Hookah/sheesha is not bad. This is just another case of a bunch of overzealous anti-smoking a-holes who think their self-righteousness outweighs a simple innocent pleasure. Go eat a vegetable, you pricks. And yes, these kids do have it all wrong. They could've picked a better plant. Prudes.

All the comments about portable hookahs- I have seen something called a proto-pipe, which is essentially a hookah, but it is a rather crappy innovation made of plastic. It's portable but I wouldn't recommend it. The 2 foot tall glass affair? Yeah, you're not moving it anywhere. If you do, and it breaks.... not cheap.

"Myth #3: The water in the base of the pipe filters out toxins.

Reality: If the water filters out anything, it is not enough to lower the health risks."

so it's not a myth? Then why put it on the list?

Conclusion: The author is a zealot on a literary rampage.

oh dear, children are SMOKING!!!!!! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgghh!!!!

don't worry, the health nazis will swoop into action and make sure everyone lives like they do, but it's for our own good!

abonides, there is no such thing as a real journalist anymore.

hookahs are only used to smoke dope. Don't you people know anything?

I wonder why it is that the author and MSNBC felt it necessary to post this article ranting about hookah use. What difference does the device make, be it hookah, cigarette, or pipe, so long as only legal substances are being smoked? It's a lawful--although disgusting--practice, so let them do what they want.

Entirely valid point. I would also caution the parents on this discussion forum who defend the use of tobacco by their children saying that they are able to use for months, then quit cold turkey without any adverse effects or signs of addiction. It is entirely possible for this to happen, but why would you ever want to take that chance? Depending on the child's age you may not have any choice in the matter (ie: good luck controlling what your 17yr old does) but I would strongly advise against enabling/encouraging. I am a recovering alcoholic & addict who has been clean and sober for over 7 years. The most difficult substance (BY FAR) that I ever quit using was tobacco/cigarettes.

If you havent tried it dont assume you know what its like. Ive smoked both cigarettes, cigars and hookahs. the only addicting of the 3 is cigarettes. Many people pick up hookah for months or even years and have no problem quitting. as far as controlling your 17 year old kid. You should have been a better parent when the kid was 16, 15, 14...

as far as water filtering out toxins...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DbFBu_I_lA

Exactly, that kind of proves the point that i posted earlier, it clearly doesnt have the nicotine of a cigarette in it, because it is not addicting

the reason why it is not addicting is because it doesnt have all the additives that cigarettes, cigars, and chew has in it, not just because of nicotine, which is still relatively high. I own a hookah and use it seldomly, it is just a chill thing with a group of friends.

that's good! You win the prize today! A four hitter hooka for you and your friends to enjoy.

Chris, you make a good point. Is it possible that at least some of the respondents thought a 'hookah' was the trashy looking lady up the street looking to be paid for sexual exploits instead of a hashish pipe?

Dave, it is tobacco. You are talking about something you clearly know nothing about.

sheesh... whatta attitude...okay, how's this; "That aint tobacco in MY hookah"

I had a houka once and it never had tobacco in it.

Then you were wasting a lot of pot by smoking it in a device that is inefficient and poorly designed for that type of thing. Half the people I know smoke pot, about that many have used a hookah.....I`ve never seen anybody use a hookah for pot. Why, when you can get a bong that`s cheaper and more efficient?

Agreed Ringo. It did have a smaller bowl and was used almost exclusivily at parties where there was always a steady draw.

I'm kind of amazed at this string of posts. Generally there is a lot less antagonism in strings that have anything pertaining to the sweet smoke, except of course those who have never used and spout the usual propaganda.

I find it interesting that there are so many people here at all. This isn't very newsworthy. How many young adults have ever in their life smoked ANYTHING.

I think it's just the people that we see jumping on everything as the newest, most horrible fad to hid those darned young people since last week. Once upon a time there was rock music that was rotting brains, dungeons and dragons turning people into satanists, those little plastic bracelets making kids have sex, those little flavored cigarettes that were luring all the children into smoking even though most kids are relatively poor and couldn't afford them to begin with.

Well they have the new cigarettes with all the chemicals (that do not bother humans but extinguish burning butts) Then you have the price of a pack over 6 bucks and they find a way. back in my younger days we found a lot of peaceful times sitting around with a water pipe. If I remember correctly the amount of smoke in a hit should really choe a person.

Teenage driver stop will you Bongs and water pipes go back to the Ottoman times for petes sake.

Settle down there, driver; people smoke all kinds of things in hookahs for a variety of reasons, and have done so since long before today's college hipsters ever got wind of it.

My oh my such an angry little man! If you need to threaten violence to enforce your point, you automatically devalue your opinion.

quit embarassing our generation?

Hey Teen- Get counseling. You are way too angry, got some issues? Do you even know what you are talking about? What, praytell, was this message even about? Various sized hookahs? Go Captain Obvious. If he has a minimum wage job, he's doing better than some white-collared workers in our economy. Get off your egocentrical high horse and stop being a douche.

A bong is different than a hookah. Hookahs have been used for thousands of years in India and it's more of a 'social' thing. Remember the caterpillar from the movie Alice in Wonderland? That's a hookah.

I myself do not smoke pot, but do own 2 hookahs that we use every once in a while with shisha. I know it's not 'better' than cigarettes, but at least it's not filled with additives and other crap... it's natural tobacco leaves, molasses and flavor. That's it. No laundry list of chemicals added.

I thought the Door-mouse was referring to LSD? I imagine I could get the intent wrong, as I almost always have the wrong lyrics.

The hookah is for smoking hashish. It looks like it's a lot more social then a bong. Let's hope they have them at the retirement home to make BINGO night more fun!

hookahs have been used by many cultures including Persians Arabs etc Even the phillapines and they go back many years various local plants were smoked in them including regional tobaccos.Not always pot.

In India, hookahs are a common sight. A common ingrediant is Bhang, aka cannabis. Centuries of use.

Happier ... until TSHTF anyway!

I use them for tobacco. I've never used a hookah for pot. Oh, and I'm in my early 20's, so it's not like I'm one of those old people that you could "maybe seed doing this."

I'm going to agree with Sammara... I've never smoked pot out of a hookah and neither have any of my friends...and I'm in my mid twenties.

Um, crazy, in the "big city", folks are using tobacco only - and smoke shops are enjoying a renewed business in all the flavored tobacco. Trendy little "hookah bars" with little restaurants attached have sprung up. It really is quite a fad.

However, in Cali, legalizing pot will be on the ballot, so... who knows where that will take us.

If you smoked pot or knew anything about those who do, you would know that smoking out of a hookah is not only less effective than using a typical water pipe, but is a huge waste. Why?

A hookah operates with a LARGE bowl (much larger than anyone who smokes marijuana would use. It also has a series of large holes that the marijuana would simply be sucked right through) atop a long cylinder that enters the reservoir of water. Atop this bowl, which you fill with WET shisha (hint, marijuana is always dried before smoking, which automatically exempts it as a material you'd use in a hookah), you place a coal (or two, depending on how thick/harsh you like the smoke to be and how long you want the bowl of shisha to last). If you filled this bowl with marijuana, it would simply burn up in a matter of minutes.. that is a huge waste of a very expensive flower. People who smoke marijuana prefer water pipes that have a small bowl with a stem that reaches the reservoir within a few inches of the place where combustion occurs. The longer the smoke has to travel, the more you waste.

A hookah is used for longer social sessions lasting from 30 minutes to an hour depending on bowl size and quality of the tobacco. People certainly mix marijuana in with their shisha, but only personally and never at establishments that allow hookah usage. Perhaps you are mixing up a hookah with a water pipe ("bong"). They aren't the same thing.

Don't talk about things you have no grasp of, especially in a sensationalist manner like you've done. Just makes you look like a dolt.

never smoked hookah with pot - dont know anybody who ever uses hookah for pot

i think you are confusing your typical egyptian/syrian type hookah with modern "bongs". as pkwight said, a hookah is a fairly impractical way to smoke marijuana. a majority of people use hookahs for hookah tobacco, while the bongs apparently receive most of the marijuana use.

it's best to refrain from referring to people as ignorant since you seem quite misinformed yourself.

Holy crap people! Hookas can be used for both pot and tobacco. Get over it already. Every hookah I ever saw was filled with pot (or hash). But of course there are those cafesin some cities were middle eastern and asian men gather and smoke tobacco in hookahs. Then of course there are those people who have hookahs for tobacco in their homes for either traditional cultural reasons or because they think its cool. But I would still wager that in North America the majority of in-use hookahs are filled with weed.

Whether weed or tobacco, hashish or shisha, hookahs can and are used as a different and interesting way to smoke. There, it's settled!

I'm from California and I've never seen anyone use a hookah to smoke pot - I've heard that it isn't as good or something. I did flavored tobacco with a hookah socially for a few months, and I enjoyed it (it was calming and gave you a little light headedness), but I didn't want to screw up my lungs. I don't know anyone that has gotten super addicted to it though (like people do with cigarettes), but that's just me.

It's not to smoke pot in public. It would still smell like pot.

And, I can guarantee you that 99% of hookah bars aren't selling weed or allowing weed to be used in their hookahs.

Every set of teeagers has their fads and I guess this is one for the present generations. Back in my day it was pot in college or hashish.

Very True, especially when you buy the flavored tobaccos from the middle east. The only ingredients in them are tobacco, molasses and flavoring. They dont have the chemicals that the cigarette tobaccos have

Flavoring ain't chemicals? The only chemical you are avoiding is the one they use to soak cigarette papers in to make them burn slower. Other than that, its the same smoke with some of the tar taken out by filtering it through water

Another thing to note is that smoking hookah is much more strenuous on your lungs than smoking cigarettes.

Why?

You take very large drags from a hookah, hence the billowing clouds of smoke that you exhale, and it's very easy to hyperventilate yourself while smoking a hookah. Some people like this feeling, others don't.

I believe I read somewhere, and don't quote me, because I'm not sure of the validity of this statement, that a regular hookah session lasting 45 minutes or so results in the inhalation of the equivalent of 400 cigarettes-worth of smoke. Now, as Sammara pointed out, shisha is far less toxic than the tobacco you find in a cigarette.. but the sheer amount of smoke you're inhaling, I think, offsets that anyway.

Every time I've smoked hookah, I got a very nasty headache.. most definitely has to do with taking large hits and the sheer amount of smoke you inhale during a session.

This year they added something new to cigarettes. They will go out if you don't smoke them. It's very aggrevating. I guess it may keep a few drunks from passing out with cigarettes and burning up.

It seems to be more of a socializing thing. And for the older teens around here that do use a hookah with their friends, maybe a key issue is that one must only be 18 to go to a hookah bar, (some sneak in, I've heard). So the first thing my kids, and my son's girlfriend wanted to do at 18 was go to a hookah bar with their friends, since it was trendy - and they were "legal" for something.

Um like ever hear of the Hookah smoking caterpillar? You REALLY believe the dude was smoking tobacco? Better go watch the 1951 version of Alice in Wonderland or perhaps read the book. And hoohahs are standard equipment in the Middle East to smoke hash with and have been for a long long time before tobacco was introduced

As I said, it doesn't work putting pot in there. The tobacco is covered in molasses to keep it burning evenly. It is supposed to roast slowly. If it wasn't for the molasses, it would catch fire and burn, and probably be pretty harsh.

It just doesn't work, unless you know somewhere to get molasses covered pot.

Simple you just replace the pipe clogged with resin every once in a while. If you can smoke tobacco in it you can smoke pot in it, I assure you. Just sprinkle it with rum or tequila if you want you make it tasty and burn slower

"Just sprinkle it with rum or tequila"

Ha, okay David, whatever you say. You obviously don't know what you're talking about.

Yep. David is not aware of "how it works."

When I owned a hookah, before I got sick of the headaches it caused me, I always had friends come over and joke about loading a bowl of marijuana into it.. and to my surprise, a lot of them genuinely thought it would work.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that a hookah is NOT an ideal vessel for smoking pot, it's just a good way to waste it.

David, you were also wrong about the 'hash' thing. The hookah was invented in India specificially for tobacco (ironically, to make tobacco more healthy, which is what this article is refuting):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hookah

Hash can be smoked in a hookah. Hash is cannabis, cannabis is pot. Semantics, guys. Hash will roast slowly and can be smoked in a hookah - trust me. It doesn't matter what the hookah was invented for, it has since been used to smoke a myriad of substances. So yes, in fact it can and is being used to get high.

Who'd want to mask the odor of pot--one of the sexiest smells in the world! You talk like you've uncovered a conspiracy or something.

Mike,

Not 0% tar, unfortunately. Any tobacco product that is combusted is going to have some tar as a byproduct.

It is certainly a lot less than what you get from dried tobacco in a cigarette, but yours is the kind of attitude that is dangerous... it's still tobacco, and you inhale a TON of smoke in a regular hookah session, much more smoke than the normal cigarette smoker would in an entire day.

I don't think we should encourage any one to smoke anything. There is nothing "good" about smoking hookah, not even in relation to smoking cigarettes. It's still tobacco, and it's still going to kill you if you make a habit of it. Sorry, but that's just how it is.

Yeah, I don't mean to nit-pick but pkwight is correct. ANY combusted plant-matter that you inhale is going to do damage, whether it contains nicotine, tar or whatever. As far as I know this is the basis for the argument of using a vaporizer over bongs/pipes/whatever. Not saying that a vape is or isn't any safer since I don't want to open another can of worms on this discussion, but smoking plants is going to do harm to you, period.

The people I know that use vaporizors are heavy smokers who wheeze their lungs out when they take a hit of pot. And if you have plenty of pot laying around so you don't much care about wasting it and spray it with molasses or whatever (rum for example) and let it dry, it is going to burn the same as tobacco in a hookah

And I can assure you that the Hippies of the sixties used them in their pot parties. I know because I was at some of them!

And I could be wrong, but I've always assumed the hookah smoking caterpillar was doing weed, not tobacco. Otherwise why would the Jefferson Airplane bother to mention him in the head song White Rabbit

The box says 0% tar. It's probably a small enough fraction to be considered 0% and thus negligible.