by Tracy Thomas

Created on: July 02, 2009

Nargileh, goza, hubbly bubbly, hookah; all names used for the traditional Indian and Middle-Eastern water pipes that have become so popular in the United States. Hookah bars and lounges have begun to pop up in cities and towns across the country claiming to be a safe, enjoyable alternative to smoking cigarettes. But is smoking shisha out of a hookah really safer than smoking regular tobacco?

A recent World Health Organization advisory stated "a typical one-hour session of hookah smoking exposes the user to 100 to 200 times the volume of smoke inhaled from a single cigarette." The type of tobacco used in a hookah may seem milder than your typical cigarette however the smoke still contains tar, heavy metals, carbon monoxide and cancer-causing agents even after being filtered through water. And yes, nicotine, the highly addictive ingredient in tobacco is still delivered to the user in large quantities. Second hand smoke is also an issue with the duo-fold delivery of smoke from the shisha plus the smoke from whatever fuel is being used to heat the hookah such as charcoal.

The sudden rise in hookah bar, hookah lounge or hookah caf popularity across the country can surely be attributed to a focus on the 18-24 year old target market who resides near colleges and universities. Presented as a very social and pleasant alternative to the traditional bar scene, groups of college-aged kids flock to hookah cafes to try the plethora of tobacco flavors such as apple, cola, cherry, grape, watermelon, honey, banana, mango, coconut, and chocolate, just to name but a few. There is something about this particular approach to marketing that smells similar to the recent national attention placed on the alcohol industry and its sales of fruity malt beverages. The focus seemed to be on luring the teen generation into their fold by offering a more palatable beverage that successfully hid the strong flavor of alcohol. And what about the tobacco industry's infamous Joe Camel campaign and the fact that young children related to Joe on the same level as Mickey Mouse? Surely a ruse to convince young and pliable minds that smoking is okay and cool to boot.

It seems a pretty straight forward conclusion: create tobacco that is sweet, comes in a variety of flavors and is delivered to your lungs in a smooth manner minus that harsh taste and the younger generation will come running. Now, most young people have heard of or had some exposure to water pipes along the way, so all you need to do is place a bunch of these alluring contraptions into a comfortable and hip hangout and call it a bar or a lounge or caf and voila! Watch them all pack the house and spend a lot of money on something they have been told is a whole lot safer and cooler than smoking cigarettes.

So, should hookah lounges be allowed in Fairfield County, Connecticut? Not if you care about the health of your children.

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