25% of young adults have used a hookah
 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37068386...th-addictions/

...A new survey, published today in the journal Pediatrics, confirmed that as many as 23 percent of young people in North America have used a hookah, also known as a water pipe, shisha, narghile or hubble bubble, in the last year. And according to a study in the current issue of the American Journal of [COLOR=darkgreen ! important]Health[/COLOR] Behavior, hookah prevalence is on the rise worldwide...

...According to a 2009 study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, average hookah use exposes the smoker to more smoke and carbon monoxide, and similar amounts of nicotine, as cigarettes. The two practices likely share some similar health risks, the study concluded. In particular, hookahs have been linked to lung cancer, heart disease and pregnancy complications. So why do people think they are safe...

Who really thinks it's safe? I've smoked hookah a few times and always woke up the next day feeling like I Chain-smoked a whole pack of cigs.

I used to own one.

It was smoother than cigarettes, but I wouldn't really go as far as saying it was "safe" to use.

The use of these is going up because of the smoking bans in bars - I've definitely seen that around here. As usual, banning something has popularized a substitute that's even unhealthier than the thing that was banned.

The new Middle Eastern restaurant down the street has a hookah lounge.

We have a county-wide smoking ban in all public places & buildings including restaurants. The University of Kentucky campus has even now gone smoke free.

I wonder how long the restaurant and hookah lounge will stay open. There hardly ever seems to be anyone in the parking lot.

I think it might be a tiny bit healthier since the smoke is cooled before you inhale it, but only thing i can think of.

We have a hookah lounge in town, Pullman had one, it may still. Lots of college kids have one in their homes. I also know of at least one fraternity who wanted to have a hookah rush event, and i know it has been mentioned on GC as an event for fraternity and sororities.

That would definitely make me uninterested in a group, and I wonder how it works with risk management and insurance.

I own one that is blue and pretty, collecting dust. My husband bought it in the middle east for me while he was overseas. It's never been used....I wouldnt know how to use it if I tried....

This doesn't surprise me at all. My college town (Providence) had a hookah bar for a while; it may still. When I studied abroad, going to hookah bars was pretty common. I don't dislike hookah smoke the way I do cigarette smoke. Eh.

Hookah was huge with my ex's chapter. There was always at least one at every party since about 2006. They still had them around that last time I went (a while ago), but I have never participated. Smoking is smoking in my opinion. Hookah seems a bit bigger here than maybe elsewhere, I think it's finally dying down though. I rarely get invited or see invites to those types of events anymore.

It's actually not at all healthier because of the added chemicals that are put into it to make it a certain flavor, etc. I heard this on the John Tesh radio show like 2 weeks ago, it was really interesting.

I've never tried hookah, always wanted too, but IDK if I will after reading this lol.

I tried it once, but I got a massive headache after and I was not into the fake fruit taste. Blech.

I guess it's better than 25% of young adults having used a hooker?

It's incredibly unhealthy, but it's also important to note that hookah smoking is the definition of "social smoking". The majority of that 25% probably goes to a hookah lounge once every year / year and a half...I was in a fraternity that had used a hookah lounge as a rush event and I can only think of one or two brothers that smoked hookah regularly, let alone consistently.