In the article “Are hookah pipes more dangerous than cigarettes?” posted on June 1, 2011, in The Week magazine, the author illustrates a new trend among youth called hookah pipes. It is smoking a fruity tobacco using a water pipe, and the author questions whether it is less harmful than cigarettes or they are equal. Many hookah smokers describe it as a healthy substitute for cigarettes, whereas studies show that it degenerates a human's health by causing the same consequences that cigarettes do including lung cancer and heart disease. In addition, these smokers are more vulnerable herpes and tuberculosis because they are inhaling from the same pipe.
I am convinced that hookah usage causes a lot of hazards, but I doubt that any legislation that tries to govern it will be able to totally succeed. Because it is a trend that has just started in its circulation, and it will thrive. Similar to the population of cigarettes in the late of 19th century, today popular culture endroses the use of hookah pipes. However, after cigarettes long period of popularity, educated people began to fight this deadly habit (smoking cigarettes). Similarity, maybe people will try to curb and prevent hookah smoking from spreading since they have already seen the majority of diseases that tobacco has caused. I hope this tragedy ends and a high taxes is applied to tobacco products and hookah bars.
Well said. It seems that the hookah has more of a communal draw since it involves sharing the smoking device. I wonder if this aspect of smoking hookah pipes will make smoking hookah more or less difficult to curb. Maybe users will be less likely to stop because of the social motivation to participate in "group smoking". Or, perhaps, they will be more likely to stop if the other participants recognize the negative effects of tobacco use and spread the word that it will lead to negative consequences.
ReplyDelete@Nikki- I think if the person is persuaded of the harmful effects that smoking tobacco can caused on his health, he is more likely to stop smoking. Otherwise anyone can buy his own hookah and use it without sharing somebody else, so communal aspect doesn't have that serious role to curb smoking hookah.
ReplyDeleteAsmaa you did a great job by explaining predominant points about hookah's topic. Obviously, smoking hookah is temporary trend because smokers are just trying to showing off. However, they ignore the harmful effects on their health. Eventually, I believe people will take good care about their health more than care about bad trends such as hookah or cigarette.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. Smoking hookah is just one form of smoking. Banning hookah cannot be a fundamental solution. Government should be more aggressive in dealing with smoking itself.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with the wrong cultural mentality we have about the hookah. I think this should be fixed by more awareness to people.
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