For those of you that don't know, a hookah is basically a water pipe with a hose that you smoke flavored tobacco (shisha) from. Smoking hookah is usually a social activity, and is always a great way to unwind. It's actually growing quite rapidly in popularity. There's the smoke, the flavor, and the nicotine buzz. About a year ago I really got into hookah and my roommates followed. Now we're in the early stages of creating a hookah resource site and forum. Does anyone here hookah? If so, maybe we can get a hookah discussion going.
I've been known to sit down and smoke a hookah from time to time with friends, or go to a bar and do the same. I don't know that much about them, and the only serious experience I've had with them is when I was a freshman at CU in 2007. Routinely, my friend and I would pack a hookah, my favorite tobacco flavoring was a combination of mango and pineapple, and unwind at the end of most nights. Can't remember the last time I've actually smoked one.. Maybe two or three years ago, but I'm definitely a fan.
I've never even heard of hookah until now. And I won't be playing hookah anytime soon. Anything involving nicotine is a turn-off for me.
Fun, right? We don't have any hookah bars/lounges around here, despite living near a university (I'd love to open one!). I'm not a fan of mango, but my roommate just brought back some Iced Apple which is delicious. It might be my new favorite. heh heh. Fun fact: even though hookahs have been used to smoke tobacco in the Middle East for hundreds of years, it was originally used, exclusively, to smoke hash. Totally understand. I don't think it's as bad as cigs, but it's probably not a good long-term habit. I still love it though!
I'm not legally old enough. Guess I'll just have to break the unfair boundaries of law to indulge myself. Will provide feedback in a few days.
Some Beach! You can put tobacco in the damn thing? Seriously....Nothing is more addictive than nicotine. The receptors in the brain never say no to more nicotine and the chemistry for its delivery in some products are well guarded secrets. 9-11 was the first of several dominoes to fall that led to the secret of paper treated with a trace of ammonia to turbo-charge cigarettes being exposed. Another domino was those cheap basturds cutting out free doughnut Friday. Weird how something as inexpensive as 10-12 dozen of doughnuts/week can play a role in costing billions. One guy worried some contract killer wearing trench-coat with a silencer on a pistol would wake him up at night just to tell him the cigarette company wanted him dead then kill him. And that would have been okay, just another cheap basturd who cheated at golf and didn't pay his bets.
Absolutely.. It sort of had the feel of being in an opium den, minus the intoxication, obviously, where the smoke would fill the room and create a dreamy sort of setting and I would often find myself puffing periodically without giving thought to the act itself, simply relaxing and watching whatever was on the television--usually a movie, and forgetting about the day's events.
Used to smoke the hookah a little bit with friends a long while back, but it's not very popular in Finland. People prefer to drink stale cheap beer, puke around the room, and pass out in your bed. And for some reason I've never found stick-sucking appealing, be it ciggies, hookah, vaping...
Really, I'd love to hear more lol. Hookah is a little different that cigarettes. Ya, it's still nicotine, but it doesn't have all the additives of cigarettes, though according to the CDC it's just as bad... I'm still a skeptic though. Maybe I'm just in denial. Kinda related but off-topic is e-cigs. It's pretty interesting how they can be marketed as a way to quit regular cigarettes, but due to the nicotine concentration (I think it's pure liquid nicotine) and the fact that you can smoke publicly indoors, smokers typically end up smoking more... Nicotine is addictive though, even in hookah. I'm probably going to be taking a tolerance break next week. I love hookahing, but I smoke it waaay to much. What do you mean by "the receptors in the brain never say no to more nicotine?" Literally? Cause you can overdose on nicotine. It's care, but it happens. I've never been in an opium den, but I can totally see how that analogy works. I've only ever been to one hookah lounge, and it was similar, though they didn't have TVs. It was a very dark, relaxed, chill atmosphere. I wish there was one on my city, the only one shut down. Where I live the coffee shops aren't quite what I've heard they are oversees, and we have no internet cafes, so hookah lounges seem like a similar atmosphere were people can go to chill and hangout. I think we need more of that sort of thing in the U.S. Ya, you're still a customer, but if they run it right you don't feel like one. To each their own I guess. I'd rather smoke than drink almost any day.
This is the land of the Nargile (hookah) and believe me, it's even more dangerous than cigarettes. Because it can be flavoured, people think it's less dangerous, and they smoke it for longer periods. It causes mostly cancer of the mouth and tongue.
Not only is getting hooked on nicotene a serious issue, it's also a pain in the butt. Life already has plenty of headaches.
I've never 'hookahed', but can see why it appeals to some. I used to smoke cigs, from about age 20 to 34, but I never really got hooked on them. It was like I kind of enjoyed fitting into the peer group, but never got addicted to the nicotine. In fact, I have little to no predilection for drugs, it seems my body and brain just get ill instead of getting any enjoyment from them. I have to add a caveat though in that I've only tried soft drugs, basically cigs, alcohol and weed (and caffeine, if that can be considered a soft drug). I will add that I have no intention of trying anything harder just to see if different types of drugs would affect me differently.
Lol guys I never said hookah was good for you. It's definitely a bad long-term habit. I'm not convinced it's worse than cigarettes though. Ya, you smoke longer, but it doesn't have all the chemical additives of cigarettes and it's burnt at a lower temperature. Here's a pic of my hookah for your viewing pleasure. Chilling and smoking on the porch on a nice day is just perfectly relaxing. Where are you from [MENTION=7481]madhoca[/MENTION]?
I am from Turkey. An average nargile ("hookah") has 4-5 times more carbon monoxide in it than a cigarette, that's about 10mg, which causes slight brain damage if it becomes a regular habit. Apart from that, the arsenic, chrome, and lead particles are more dangerous than the chemicals in a filter tipped cigarette, and they stay in the pipe from one smoke to another. I hate the way they have become "fashionable" with young people recently. They are revolting and very dangerous, don't EVER use them. And after seeing my father-in-law die at the fairly young age of 68 of lung cancer from his heavy cigarette use, I can say that anyone who plays Russian roulette with their health by smoking deserves all they will probably have coming to them but I am sorry for your loved ones.
The only smoke I deliberately inhale is from a barbecue smoker/grill. And even then, I limit my exposure. Smoking, in various forms, has killed too many people I cared about. Besides, I grew up in open country, and I love clean fresh air.
I have one that I usualy smoke with my family, I really like it because it makes me relax, but I am totally aware of its capacity to do bad things to me. So I won't use it that much.
It's called nargile here as well, and we have a couple from my father's travels, as souvenirs, but we've never used them. I personally wouldn't be caught dead smoking one of those, or a cigarette for that matter, but they are lovely decoration. The ones we have are very 1001 nights.
I have nothing to do with it because 1) My family has a long history of cancer and anything with nicotine repels me like the plague, and 2) I'm a solitary creature and hookah is generally a *shudder* social activity. The very thought makes me want to crawl into a dark crevice and hiss at people who walk by.
I have a hookah, although I haven't smoked in ages. I got a scare when I discovered nicotine causes brain damage (although that's not why I haven't smoked in a while). I'm sure your brain's fine with the occasional hookah session; it's the years of heavy cigarette smoking that really does the harm (I think).
^^ No, exposure to carbon monoxide and trace elements like arsenic affect you directly each time you smoke, so even one go harms you.
Well, arsenic exposure is cumulative, but the effects carbon monoxide exposure are relatively short term (the hemoglobin is damaged but renewable). There are other cumulative toxins in tobacco smoke.
