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.

Grobyc

Canada18410 Posts

June 29 2011 02:49 GMT

#23

I fucking love hookahs. I could sit there and smoke out of a hookah all day if given the opportunity.

a176

Canada6688 Posts

June 29 2011 03:19 GMT

#24

Carbon Monoxide is all you need to worry about, really.

sob3k

United States7572 Posts

June 29 2011 03:25 GMT

#25

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.

brian

United States9583 Posts

June 29 2011 03:29 GMT

#26

also you inhale ridiculous amounts more smoke out of a hookah. ridiculous amounts more.

Zealotdriver

United States1557 Posts

June 29 2011 03:34 GMT

#27

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.

ProbeYourSCV

Bahrain30 Posts

June 29 2011 03:42 GMT

#28

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

sung_moon

United States10110 Posts

June 29 2011 06:39 GMT

#29

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)

Torte de Lini

Germany38463 Posts

June 29 2011 06:47 GMT

#30

On June 29 2011 10:43 Fragmaaad wrote:

Show nested quote +

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.

Havefa1th

United States245 Posts

June 29 2011 07:38 GMT

#31

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.

Bambipwnsu

Canada698 Posts

June 29 2011 08:16 GMT

#32

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.

Djagulingu

Germany3605 Posts

June 29 2011 09:17 GMT

#33

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.