Want to put away the cigarettes and talk with some interesting people? Go to a hookah bar, says Aaron Alu, as he takes a leisurely puff from a glass water pipe at the Mirage Coffeehouse and Hookah Lounge in Long Beach.
Apple-scented smoke drifts in the air as the clean-cut police officer looks around genially. "I get to talk to people here that I otherwise wouldn't ever get to know." One patron looks up from her laptop and nods in agreement. "I'm sure it's not great for you," Alu adds, "but it got me to quit smoking cigarettes."
Although not even hookah fans suggest that smoking tobacco through a water pipe is healthful, many contend that drawing the smoke through the water removes some of the harmful chemicals. Scientists, however, point out that although the hookah may filter out some irritants, the smoke nevertheless contains high levels of nicotine, carbon monoxide and other toxic chemicals. The trouble is, they can't say exactly how unhealthful it is, particularly compared with cigarettes.
The potential risks, or relative safety, of hookah smoking has taken on added relevance as hookah bars have begun to sprout up across the U.S. in recent years.
There are more than 400 hookah cafes across the country, according to an online database of hookah bars, with half of them in California, Illinois, New York, Arizona and Florida. California leads the pack with about 90 hookah bars and cafes, and the numbers appear to be growing, says Paul Knepprath, vice president of government relations for the American Lung Assn. of California. Hookah bars are especially popular among 18- to-24-year-olds, he says.
The growing popularity of hookah bars has led the American Lung Assn. and the World Health Organization to issue advisories on the dangers of hookah smoking.
"Any of the major diseases that are associated with cigarette smoking are associated with hookah pipe smoking," Knepprath says. The long-term dangers, he says, include lung and heart disease, cancer, emphysema and heightened asthma attacks.
But tell that to hookah smokers, who say the wave of relaxation that comes with every puff, along with the fellowship of other smokers, outweighs the risks.
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Old origins, new trend
Typically, a hookah consists of a bowl, which is filled with tobacco, affixed to a hollow tube that extends down into an enclosed jar partially filled with water. The user draws air from a hose affixed to the top of the jar, creating a vacuum in the air and forcing smoke up through the water.
