Hookah

Hookah use is establishing roots in the strongly anti-tobacco state of California, says a new study, with usage rates increasing more than 40% over a few years. Hookah involves smoking from a water pipe and hose. Specially made tobacco, often flavored,  is heated and smoke passes through water and a rubber hose into a mouthpiece. Studies so far suggest that hookah smoking carries many of the same health risks assmoking cigarettes. Researchers from UC San Diego and San Diego State University examined data from the California Tobacco Survey.

Cigarette smoking may have earned a reputation as an unhealthy, cancer-causing pastime, but water pipes seem to have largely evaded the stigma. Now, new research shows that water pipes may simply be dangerous in slightly different ways, according to a study in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention. Water pipes, also known as hookah, shisha and a host of other aliases, are a common social activity in the Middle East and have been growing in popularity: a 2011 study found more than 40% of college students had used a hookah , and many of them appeared to believe it was safer than cigarette smoking.

Standing outside his hookah station at a Middle Eastern restaurant in Glendale, Alfonso "Abou Salim" Ramirez grabbed a red apple and, using a sharp knife, sliced off the top. He flipped the apple over and made four quick incisions, creating a small square. "This is my secret," Ramirez said, jabbing a finger into the square to pop out the core. He then stuffed red, apple-flavored tobacco into the hole and covered it with a piece of tin foil.

While the lion's share of youth anti-smoking efforts has focused on cigarettes, a new report in the CDC journal Preventing Chronic Disease suggests more needs to be done to reduce the number of teens smoking flavored tobacco from hookahs. According to a recent survey cited in the report, 18.5% of 12th-grade students admitted to using a hookah in the previous year. And what's particularly concerning to the study authors, led by Daniel Morris of the Oregon Health Authority's public health division, is that many young people don't seem to recognize that hookah use carries serious health risks: Hookah smoke contains many of the same toxins as cigarettes and has been associated with a similar laundry list of diseases such as lung cancer and respiratory illness.

First it was the bars of New York. Then the bistros of Paris. Now the smoky teahouses and hookah cafes of the Middle East are pushing smokers to the sidelines. Eyebrows were raised last year when Turkey banned smoking in all bars, cafes and restaurants. Even though nearly 30% of the Turkish population smokes, polls said 95% of the people supported the move. Its neighbor Syria also recently stepped up measures against smokers and puffers of the hookah pipe. In October, Syrian President Bashar Assad issued a decree banning smoking inside public places.

Vegas is a city of smoke and mirrors, which makes it all the more alluring after dark. The just-opened Oracle Mansion - a Mediterranean-style nightclub/restaurant - features a leather- and crystal-studded hookah lounge fit for a sultan. Select your smoke from 35 sweet flavors (mango, guava and chocolate among them) or choose from more exotic tastes like twilight and electric lotus. Not all puff, the 18,000-square-foot club boasts private sky boxes above the dance floor, personal maids dressed for burlesque and Far East-inspired eats like feta bites and kafta sliders for $10 - so you can throw your cash at a $300 bottle of Dom. - Jamie Wetherbe, Custom Publishing Writer Oracle Mansion 3500 W. Naples Drive 702.541.7000 www.oraclemansion.com Tuesday to Thursday and Saturday, 10 p.m. to 6 .am. Friday, 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.  

ON a bright afternoon, about two dozen people gathered on a bend overlooking the San Gabriel River. The idyllic sounds of birds and flowing water mixed with the low growl of gas-powered suction dredges. Clusters of men (and one or two women) crouched in the water with vacuum hoses, circular pans and sluice boards. Their goal -- in some cases, their obsession -- was the same. "The gold looks so good underwater," gushed Coel Schumacher, a 19-year-old junior at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

While the lion's share of youth anti-smoking efforts has focused on cigarettes, a new report in the CDC journal Preventing Chronic Disease suggests more needs to be done to reduce the number of teens smoking flavored tobacco from hookahs. According to a recent survey cited in the report, 18.5% of 12th-grade students admitted to using a hookah in the previous year. And what's particularly concerning to the study authors, led by Daniel Morris of the Oregon Health Authority's public health division, is that many young people don't seem to recognize that hookah use carries serious health risks: Hookah smoke contains many of the same toxins as cigarettes and has been associated with a similar laundry list of diseases such as lung cancer and respiratory illness.

Cigarette smoking may have earned a reputation as an unhealthy, cancer-causing pastime, but water pipes seem to have largely evaded the stigma. Now, new research shows that water pipes may simply be dangerous in slightly different ways, according to a study in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention. Water pipes, also known as hookah, shisha and a host of other aliases, are a common social activity in the Middle East and have been growing in popularity: a 2011 study found more than 40% of college students had used a hookah , and many of them appeared to believe it was safer than cigarette smoking.

As Westwood Village become the casbah? Smelling the burnt aroma emanating around Peter, a 24-year-old UCLA history student hanging out at Gypsy Cafe on a recent Friday night, you'd be suspicious. Perched at his feet is a giant hookah. And Peter is inhaling. "People walk by all the time and think I'm smoking marijuana," he admits. His friends Ryan and Iskander, fellow Bruins, take a break from their concentrated chess game to pipe in (literally and figuratively).

Vegas is a city of smoke and mirrors, which makes it all the more alluring after dark. The just-opened Oracle Mansion - a Mediterranean-style nightclub/restaurant - features a leather- and crystal-studded hookah lounge fit for a sultan. Select your smoke from 35 sweet flavors (mango, guava and chocolate among them) or choose from more exotic tastes like twilight and electric lotus. Not all puff, the 18,000-square-foot club boasts private sky boxes above the dance floor, personal maids dressed for burlesque and Far East-inspired eats like feta bites and kafta sliders for $10 - so you can throw your cash at a $300 bottle of Dom. - Jamie Wetherbe, Custom Publishing Writer Oracle Mansion 3500 W. Naples Drive 702.541.7000 www.oraclemansion.com Tuesday to Thursday and Saturday, 10 p.m. to 6 .am. Friday, 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.  

Hookah use is establishing roots in the strongly anti-tobacco state of California, says a new study, with usage rates increasing more than 40% over a few years. Hookah involves smoking from a water pipe and hose. Specially made tobacco, often flavored,  is heated and smoke passes through water and a rubber hose into a mouthpiece. Studies so far suggest that hookah smoking carries many of the same health risks assmoking cigarettes. Researchers from UC San Diego and San Diego State University examined data from the California Tobacco Survey.

First it was the bars of New York. Then the bistros of Paris. Now the smoky teahouses and hookah cafes of the Middle East are pushing smokers to the sidelines. Eyebrows were raised last year when Turkey banned smoking in all bars, cafes and restaurants. Even though nearly 30% of the Turkish population smokes, polls said 95% of the people supported the move. Its neighbor Syria also recently stepped up measures against smokers and puffers of the hookah pipe. In October, Syrian President Bashar Assad issued a decree banning smoking inside public places.

Standing outside his hookah station at a Middle Eastern restaurant in Glendale, Alfonso "Abou Salim" Ramirez grabbed a red apple and, using a sharp knife, sliced off the top. He flipped the apple over and made four quick incisions, creating a small square. "This is my secret," Ramirez said, jabbing a finger into the square to pop out the core. He then stuffed red, apple-flavored tobacco into the hole and covered it with a piece of tin foil.

Outside the Soltan Nights cafe in central Baghdad, the air is thick with the exhaust of countless diesel generators and a sandstorm that turns the sky the color of dishwater. Inside, men lounge on carpet-draped sofas and fill their lungs not with dust and smog, but with clouds of dizzying, fruit-sweetened tobacco smoke inhaled from water pipes. At one table, young men talk about money and potential investments, while at the next table a gray-haired man sits alone, reading.

Long Beach is about to consider a rare step to ease anti-smoking rules. At a time when cities nationwide are banning smoking in public places from bars to beaches, the Long Beach City Council today will consider a proposed amendment to its no-smoking ordinance that would exempt cigar lounges and hookah bars.

They don't have tough guy bouncers guarding the door at Up in Smoke Hookah Lounge in Sherman Oaks. Then again, people don't tend to get rowdy from inhaling peach-and-melon-flavored tobacco through a hose. For fans of hookah, aggression is out and laid-back is in, judging from the gaggle of 18- to 20-year-olds spilling onto the sidewalk at this Ventura Boulevard nightspot.

In Hollywood, anyone can open a bar, hire a publicist and load the place up with beautiful people from cheesy modeling agencies. I see it all the time (and usually try to avoid it). A week later, the over-hyped venue is a room with no soul and no patrons. Unless they're on the clock, the beautiful ones wanna be where it's happening, where they can maximize their fun and be seen by all the right people. Right now, it's happening at the Hollywood Canteen.

Bachir Letayf smokes socially, but not cigarettes or cigars. His habit involves a water pipe, or "arg," a legacy of his Lebanese roots that is gaining in popularity across the country. "It's something everybody does at Arabic gatherings," said the 28-year-old engineer from Northampton, who smokes tobacco with cousins and friends at parties or while watching TV. Although the arghile (ah-GEE-la) is an ancient and ornate symbol of Arabic cultures, Americans may know it better as a hookah.

Gone are the sweet-smelling trails of smoke that used to bubble out of the water pipes at Al Arez cafe on Edgware Road. Gone are five employees whom Mohammed Khalil sacked a day after Britain's national smoking ban went into effect this month. And gone are many of the Middle Eastern, North African and South Asian customers who used to pack into Al Arez to socialize and smoke the pipes, also known as hookahs, filled with shisha tobacco.