By CARLY BURTON
As he exhaled, a cloud of fragrant smoke spiraled above his head permeating the crowded room. Meeting four to five times a week, senior Tyler Marshall and his friends smoke hookah for entertainment and as a way to pass the time.
A hookah, or a water pipe, is used to smoke tobacco that is available in a variety of flavors and found at any tobacco shop. Hookah tobacco is known by a number of different names, including narghile, argileh, shisha, hubble-bubble and goza, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
“There’s no reason [to smoke hookah]. Friends just come over and we do it for fun. You don’t get a high; it just tastes good,” Marshall said.
Despite the clean reputation of hookah, the downsides exceed that of cigarettes resulting in oral, lung and throat cancer as well as heart disease, according to Richard D. Hurt, M.D from the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center in Minnesota. The tobacco used in hookah is no safer than cigarettes; it contains the same amount of nicotine as cigarettes, possibly leading to dependence Dr. Hurt also says.
Students, like Marshall, believe that hookah is safer than cigarettes. What they are not aware though is that there are the same risks that come with cigarettes, such as second hand smoke, high levels of toxic compounds and birth defects for women, warns Hurt.
In an interview with Dr. Thomas Eissenberg on hookahviews.com, Eissenberg believes that due to the extended periods that kids smoke hookah, they could later suffer smoking habits from exposure to nicotine and increased heart rates from the chemicals. The myth that the water in hookah filters out harmful chemicals has been proven false, though many students still believe it to be true.
“I think cigarettes are trashy. To me hookah seems more exotic and classier,” senior Griselda Gamez said.
People worldwide are smoking due to the enticing idea of hookah. All across the country there are hookah bars and cafes where students 18 and older meet with friends and enjoy the hookah. Though the views of hookah may be enticing the results are not and students should know the facts before they try anything harmful or dangerous.
“I feel everyone should try hookah at least once or twice in his or her life,” senior Griselda Gamez said.
With the threat of lung and oral cancer, cardiovascular disease and other diseases, people should know the facts before getting hooked.