Most people are aware of the risks associated with cigarette smoking, but they may not know the risks associated with hookah tobacco and its overall appeal to youth. While hookah smokers may consider this practice less harmful than smoking cigarettes, hookah smoking carries many of the same health risks as cigarettes and more.Access to this ìnewî form of tobacco use continues to grow, especially in hookah cafes/bars targeting youth 18 to 24 years old. In 2008, 14.2 percent of Colorado high school students reported using hookah. This was a significant increase since 2006, when 12.2 percent reported using hookah. In 2008, 15.2 percent of Colorado adults age 18 years and older reported ever using hookah.What is hookah smoking?The most popular type of hookah tobacco is called shisha, a wet mixture of tobacco, sweetener (such as honey or molasses) and flavorings. Shisha comes in many flavors, including fruit, chocolate, coconut, coffee, cola, licorice, mint, vanilla and many others. The sweet flavor is usually what is particularly appealing to youth. It is smoked with a hookah pipe ñ also called a water pipe ñ which can be bought for personal use or used in a hookah establishment, known as a hookah bar or cafe. By law, you must be 18 years old to purchase shisha tobacco; however, hookah establishments are not regulated or monitored to prevent youth under the age of 18 from entering their businesses.What are the risks?Hookah smoking is not a safe alternative to smoking cigarettes. A typical one-hour long hookah smoking session involves inhaling 100 to 200 times the volume of smoke inhaled from a single cigarette, and hookah smokers may absorb higher concentrations of the toxins. Compared to smoking a single cigarette, one hookah smoking session is associated with 1.7 times the nicotine, 6.5 times the carbon monoxide and 46.4 times the tar. Hookah smokers are at risk for diseases such as oral cancer, lung cancer, stomach cancer, cancer of the esophagus, reduced lung function and decreased fertility.What are the concerns for parents of youth?Hookah can become yet another initiation to smoking that appeals to youth. Some recent studies suggest they are attracted to the aromatic smell and the social environment of hookah smoking. Hookah is typically smoked in groups, and nonsmokers may be exposed to secondhand smoke from hookah tobacco. Secondhand smoke exposes nonsmokers to the same carcinogens and toxins as smokers.More than 80 percent of youth smokers continue their tobacco addiction into adulthood, suffering the consequences of poor health, high cancer risk and a shorter life span. Tobacco use is the most preventable cause of death in the United States, kills more than 400,000 Americans and costs $96 billion in health care each year.As with any high-risk activity, make sure to talk about the risks of hookah tobacco with your kids. For more information about tobacco cessation or hookah tobacco, visit http://elpasocountyhealth.org.
