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For those of you who do not know, there has been a thing going around called Hookah. It is controversial in the sense that it contains tobacco but very little (2 percent). Believe it or not there are actually restaurants that offer this.
Here is an image of what you smoke this out of:
At the top of the pipe is where the coal goes. In the stem of the structure is where you put the tobacco. The tobacco actually comes in flavored packets like apple. Many people speculate that it is as bad as a cigarette but studies show that it actually produces little to no effect on the human body
Please discuss your thoughts on this as I would would like to know what others think of this.
   
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This is about as far from "new" as you can get. It's actually a big part of Middle Eastern culture and is reasonably popular around the areas where those communities live.
I think inhaling any form of smoke into your lungs is a bad idea health-wise, but I've had some good times with hookah. It can be a very chill way to spend a night with friends. I wouln't recommend doing it every night though.
Also I would like for you to provide a link to these studies you speak of because I remember doing my own research and the ones I found concluded that hookah is actually worse for your health than cigarettes.
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Scientists claim it's just as dangerous as cigarettes. Friends and others who smoke shisha say it's perfectly safe.
Got a laugh at you calling it a "new thing" going around.
I personally can't comment too much about it - I refuse to smoke anything and everything.
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On June 29 2011 10:41 snotboogie wrote: This is about as far from "new" as you can get. It's actually a big part of Middle Eastern culture and is reasonably popular around the areas where those communities live.
I think inhaling any form of smoke into your lungs is a bad idea health-wise, but I've had some good times with hookah. It can be a very chill way to spend a night with friends. I wouln't recommend doing it every night though.
I don;t mean new in the sense that it was just invented, but in our culture it is not exactly well known.
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you dont smoke hookah you smoke shisha out of a hookah, not tobacco this new thing was around before christ walked the earth.
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Edited OP about the new thing...Jeez haha
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16953 Posts
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i dunno how safe it is but me and my college buds go to a hookah bar from time to time, one of my friends even has one in his apartment, give it a try, u only live once ;p.
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A study on hookah smoking and cancer in Pakistan was published in 2008.[28] Its objective was "to find serum CEA levels in ever/exclusive hookah smokers, i.e. those who smoked only hookah (no cigarettes, bidis, etc.)."The study showed no statistically significant difference between CEA levels in a hookah smoker and a non-smoker, while levels of cigarette smokers were comparatively raised.
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The only time Iv used Hookah was when I was in Cairo, I don't ever smoke cigarette's and I dont like tobacco but it was nice to have a nice flavored smoke after a meal. I can't vouch for its health effects but it doesnt seem like something that would be used very often anyway (like cigarettes).
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On June 29 2011 10:36 Fragmaaad wrote: Please discuss your thoughts on this as I would would like to know what others think of this.
My thoughts on it are that it's FUCKING AWESOME. I love hookah, and love smoking shisha. I frequently go to hookah bars and just recently purchased my fifth hookah and consider myself a collector as I love to get odd/different/new/rare hookah types
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On June 29 2011 10:55 Kaal wrote:Show nested quote +On June 29 2011 10:36 Fragmaaad wrote: Please discuss your thoughts on this as I would would like to know what others think of this.
My thoughts on it are that it's FUCKING AWESOME. I love hookah, and love smoking shisha. I frequently go to hookah bars and just recently purchased my fifth hookah and consider myself a collector as I love to get odd/different/new/rare hookah types
You sir, are a GOD.
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Wikipedia's article is incomplete.
The smoke from hookah also contains smaller particles than in cigarettes and these are very harmful. Another thing is that the combustion reaction is more often incomplete so it yields higher rates of CO than cigarettes.
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I smoked a lot of Hookah with friends last year. We probably 'hookahed' like at least once a day for 3-4 weeks and I can tell you that it did affect my lung capacity negatively (like any smoke I suppose). Hookah isn't 2% tobacco, it just has a much lower nicotine content (though some shisha does have normal amounts of nicotine so be careful).
As far as other health concerns go, I've heard things about how water supposedly 'filters' tar or carcinogens out of the hookah smoke, but people say the same things about bongs and it isn't true for bongs. The only real health benefit that hookah/shisha has vs tobacco I suppose is that you really can't get addicted to hookah because of the lack of nicotine. A hookah bowl is supposedly a lot of tobacco, but I have no desire whatsoever to smoke cigarettes/hookah, and haven't touched a tobacco product in months.
That said, hookah is a really fun way to spend a chill evening with friends. Smoke tricks, idle conversation, and music didn't really come together all that much unless there was a hookah hose being passed around 
If you start hookahing though, check this flavor out
![[image loading]](http://maharajahookah.com/images/uploads/starbuzz-sex-on-the-beach.jpg) one of my favorites. It's kind of on the expensive side. Fusion is a cheaper brand (in my experience), but is very good as well.
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Haha, 2% tobacco. Your friend told you that right? Hookah sessions can be hours long...inhaling smoke over and over is not good for you.
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I've only smoked non-tobacco hookah/shisha and it was amazing
actually now im not sure if it did but it was fun and interesting and want to go do it again atleast once with friends again.
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Of course it's unhealthy, any form of smoking is. But you don't necessarily have to inhale the smoke. Not inhaling will significantly reduce any health side effects, but either way you look at it, smoking anything in any form will be unhealthy for you to some extent.
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On June 29 2011 11:16 UisTehSux wrote: Of course it's unhealthy, any form of smoking is. But you don't necessarily have to inhale the smoke. Not inhaling will significantly reduce any health side effects, but either way you look at it, smoking anything in any form will be unhealthy for you to some extent.
Um, what other way could you do it other than inhaling the smoke? Haha >_>
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On June 29 2011 11:19 Fragmaaad wrote:Show nested quote +On June 29 2011 11:16 UisTehSux wrote: Of course it's unhealthy, any form of smoking is. But you don't necessarily have to inhale the smoke. Not inhaling will significantly reduce any health side effects, but either way you look at it, smoking anything in any form will be unhealthy for you to some extent. Um, what other way could you do it other than inhaling the smoke? Haha >_>
If you suck the right way, you can get most of the smoke to swirl around in your mouth somewhat like how people smoke cigars.
Just suck in slowly and use the 'front' of your throat instead of trying to take deep inhales.
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There are a fair number of Hookah bars around Montreal, and gone once with a group of friends, didn't really like it. I'm personally not against it, as I see nothing wrong with it-- it's just not something that I really enjoyed. Essentially with a lot of alcohol it just turns into one massive group make out session from my experience.
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There's a hookah bar right across the street from my university. Going to have to hit that up after reading this thread.
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United States10774 Posts
I consider shisha a lighter version of cigarettes/cigar/dip in terms of effects on my body. I am not sure how the health effects exactly compare to others but I personally don't have a strong opinion on it. My friends from high school do it often so I join them on many occasions.
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I fucking love hookahs. I could sit there and smoke out of a hookah all day if given the opportunity.
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Carbon Monoxide is all you need to worry about, really.
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It's the exact same tobacco as cigarettes....why would it be any safer?
Water does not "filter" the smoke, that's an urban legend, it just cools it down.
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also you inhale ridiculous amounts more smoke out of a hookah. ridiculous amounts more.
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Hookahs can be a fun social activity, but they are terrible filthspreaders. The mouthpiece is teeming with bacteria, viruses, and fungi, the inside is a mold incubator.
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My uncle died because of the Shisha like 10 years ago (the thing youre talking about atm) so yeah. his lungs just died on him so yeah it's not exactly good for your health lol.
It's very popular here though
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it gets funny if u get pulled over by cops, and they open your trunk/find the set and an overzealous cop tries to get you. happened to me once, but luckily his partner knew what it was and they just let us go (we were in a pretty shady area where cops were on constant watch)
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On June 29 2011 10:43 Fragmaaad wrote:Show nested quote +On June 29 2011 10:41 snotboogie wrote: This is about as far from "new" as you can get. It's actually a big part of Middle Eastern culture and is reasonably popular around the areas where those communities live.
I think inhaling any form of smoke into your lungs is a bad idea health-wise, but I've had some good times with hookah. It can be a very chill way to spend a night with friends. I wouln't recommend doing it every night though. I don;t mean new in the sense that it was just invented, but in our culture it is not exactly well known.
This isn't new in western culture, it's a common practice for years and commonly seen in many small places.
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Shisha isn't good for you, but neither is a Big Mac.
I feel that shisha gets a bad rap for being tobacco and therefore paired with cigarettes, but in reality the hookah bars in my town are odorless, clean, friendly and have a great atmosphere. Shisha is easy to smoke and great with friends and basically non-addictive. It's great in moderation, because it's a good time to go out with some friends, pack a bowl and get some drinks and shoot the breeze for an hour or two. Or play an intense game of Sorry.
So it's basically confirmed that Shisha isn't good for you, but it'd be silly to pass off such an enjoyable thing, in my opinion. It's pretty closed-minded to only do certain things in the name of health... we only live once, we should try and experience as much of the world as possible instead of turtling from the potentially harmful things.
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Thumbs up for montreal :p
The ones in montreal are usually pretty crowded but I really enjoyed going to em each time. As everyone mentions again and again its really chill and a great idea for an end of a night with friends. That being said, if you aren't a regular smoker it can give you a nauseating sensation after extended periods of smoking.
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Before reading, I thought that we were talking about hookers and I thought that this is called water pipe. This being said, I hookah frequently, but not regularly because I do capoeira too. Of course it has negative effects on health, some say it's 6 to 8 times more harmful than regular cigarette smoking (comparison is a hookah session of 2 hours a day to a pack a day), but I don't think so. I smoked as well and I can vouch for the fact that hookah has little to no effect compared to cigarettes.
That being said, some advices from a frequent user:
- Hookah is for fun, this being said, if you're experiencing a headache or losing your balance when moving, you should stop for 5 to 10 minutes. I'm serious. - Don't inhale ashes. Check your coal and the top of your hookah every now and then, because ashes do more damage than tobacco itself and unlike tobacco, inhaling ashes is a bad experience. - If you're inexperienced, don't try to set up the hookah from scratch. What I'm saying is, don't be the first person who starts inhaling because you'll inhale nothing and experience headache. - Don't do too frequently, otherwise it will lose its fun. - When you're doing, do it by 3 breaths, first breath, you should inhale little, then, little more, in 3rd breath, you should inhale 3-4 times the first breath. After that, either pass (if you're inexperienced) or start from first breath. - Don't just hookah. Read a book with it or just do it on a casual day/night out with friends. I sometimes go there for studying or doing homeworks/projects. - You may want to try it with milk. It becomes lighter.
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