Hookah Smoking Rises

Layne Cronin's idea of relaxation is one imported from the Middle East: smoking flavored Al Fakher tobacco from an elaborate water pipe at a hookah lounge. Once only found in urban areas and ethnic enclaves, the social practice has slowly been embraced in the suburbs.


"The atmosphere is really relaxing after a day of work," said Cronin, 24, of Sayreville. "You just hang out and chill with people."

Since discovering hookah lounges three years ago -- and they are all over New Jersey these days -- Cronin experiments with different tobacco flavors a few times a week. Her favorite is the "manager's special" at Mist Hookah Lounge in North Brunswick, which has names such as "On Vacation" and "Lip Smacker."

"It has a really powerful taste to them. It's just really good," she said.

That sentiment is what has fueled a worldwide fascination with the hookah -- a water pipe with a smoke chamber, a bowl, a pipe and a hose. Specially made tobacco is heated and the smoke passes through water and is then drawn through a rubber hose to a mouthpiece.

Hookah is also known as narghile, shisha and goza. Smoking sessions last about 45 minute to an hour.

The public considers hookah a safe alternative to smoking since it contains less nicotine than cigarettes, said Kay Patel, co-owner of Mist Hookah Lounge. Many smokers believe that the water in the hookah filters out any harmful toxins, making it a safer alternative than cigarettes or cigars.

Medical experts, however, warn that this type of thinking is erroneous.
In a 2006 study, the World Health Organization stated that serious lung disease, cancer and other adverse health effects have been documented and linked with water pipe smoking.

Another WHO study states that people don't realize they could be inhaling what is believed to be the equivalent of a pack of cigarettes in a typical 30- to 60-minute session with a water pipe because such a large quantity of pure, shredded tobacco is used.

In February 2010, Richard Hurt, a Mayo Clinic internist and director of the Nicotine Dependence Center wrote: "The tobacco is no less toxic in a hookah pipe, and the water in the hookah does not filter out the toxic ingredients in the tobacco smoke. ... Hookah smokers may actually inhale more tobacco smoke than cigarette smokers do because of the large volume of smoke they inhale in one smoking session, which can last as long as 60 minutes."

Still, hookahs are popular on college campuses and some lounges -- such as Lava Hookah in Paterson, which advertises "College Hookah Tuesdays" -- capitalize on that.
At Mist Hookah Lounge, clients come mainly from nearby Rutgers University and DeVry University.

They are drawn to tobacco flavors that range from watermelon to peach, mint and licorice -- even nonalcoholic Sex on the Beach and Jack and Coke -- among hundreds of others. The tobacco is imported from the United Arab Emirates.

Some hookahs offer visuals -- lighting up with each inhalation. Smoking a hookah offers a multisensory experience, smokers say.

"People love to see the smoke and the water bubbling up," said Zayed Arabiyat, owner of Middle East Gift Center in Paterson, a shop jam-packed with hookahs in all colors and shapes.

Unlike cigarette smell, the aroma emanating from a hookah is very appealing, Arabiyat said.

"People smoke to taste watermelon in their mouths and the smell of it doesn't bother anybody," he said. "It's not like a regular cigarette."

"People think it is candy," he said. But that appeal scares health experts.

"The claim that the hookah is somehow not as dangerous is a claim without sufficient data. The risk is that people are becoming involved with a nicotine-containing product," said Terry Pachacek, associate director for science for the office on smoking and health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"There are over 7,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke and many of them are gaseous or volatiles," he said. "The fact is that this is not risk-free."

The proliferation of tobacco use other than cigarette smoking has stopped smoking rates from declining, which they had been from 1997 to 2003, Pachacek said.

Hookah users may later seek other types of nicotine sources and eventually become nicotine-addicted, he said.

"To imply that this is not as risky is really more of a marketing claim than a scientific claim," said Pechacek, who said the CDC is going to focus more attention on hookah smoking in its national campaign later this year.
Secondhand smoke

In addition, secondhand smoke from pipes burning in a closed building can pose a health threat, he said. But it's hard to convince those who have grown up around the hookah -- and those who have just discovered it.

Arabiyat, who is originally from Jordan, believes hookah smoking cannot be compared to cigarette smoking.

"Most of them don't inhale. They just want to see the smoke," he said.
In Jordan, there are hundreds of hookah lounges and everyone seems to own a hookah.

"I see all my nephews, nieces, they carry the hookah around. If they invite me for dinner, lunch, they have it in their suitcase," he said. "If they go to a picnic, they take it with them."

Smoking a hookah is a centuries-old tradition that began in India and in ancient Persia, Patel said. Throughout history, smoking a hookah exemplified bonding and mutual understanding.

According to legend, a political crisis erupted in the 1840s between the Ottoman Empire and France as a result of the Sultan's refusal to offer the French ambassador the opportunity to smoke with him. It was extremely insulting and politically incorrect.

Patel said the trend toward smoking hookahs has been picking up in the past five years, but the past two years has seen a tremendous increase in smokers.

"People are getting more educated about it. All the demographics are mixing now," Patel said.

Mist Hookah Lounge co-owner Manny Singh said he carries more than 120 hookahs that are sanitized daily: They are cleaned with soap and water, their pipes are brushed daily and air is blown through the compressor. Each customer gets his own mouthpiece, which is individually wrapped and sealed.

Cronin, who has become a regular at Mist Hookah Lounge, doesn't think her recreational hookah use will lead to cigarette smoking.

"When I was 18 or 19, I experienced cigarettes," she said. "I felt a burning in my chest. I find hookah to be smoother and the cigarettes to be a bit more harsh."