youth and is marketed towards you, the sophisticated and the laid-back.
A recent study conducted by Monitoring the Future in 2018 found “Nearly 1 in every 13 (7.8%) high school students in the United States had used hookahs to smoke tobacco during the previous year.”
In addition, the highest hookah usage was observed in larger cities within the Northeast part of the U.S., where 1 in 6 (15.0%) young adults aged 19-30 years had admitted to smoking hookahs within the previous year.
Participants in another study abstained from all tobacco usage for a week and later spent an evening smoking in a hookah bar. The results revealed that the participants had nicotine levels “as much as 70 times higher than they were before the hookah bar exposure.”
READ: Hookah: Healthy Or Hazardous?
The CDC says, hookah smoking or any electric smoking device is not a safe alternative to smoking cigarettes and there is no safe level of secondhand smoke exposure either; especially if you hang out in a lounge and live in an apartment complex.
Secondhand smoke can slowly drift into your home through various ways such as through the windows, electrical outlets, ac vents, and leave your clothes and furniture to appear as if you are a smoker putting your family’s health at risk.
Here’s what you really need to know about hookah smoking and vaping:
- Studies show that hookah contains the same highly addictive and harmful chemicals found in cigarettes such as nicotine, tar and heavy metals.
- The heat used to burn the hookah tobacco releases carbon monoxide into your atmosphere
- A 1-hour hookah smoking session can cause you to be exposed and inhale 100-200 times the amount of smoke you would inhale from a single cigarette smoke.
- Tobacco-based shisha and “herbal” shisha show that smoke from both preparations contains carbon monoxide and other toxic agents known to increase the risks for smoking-related cancers, heart disease, and lung disease.
- Hookah tobacco and vaping contain several toxic agents known to cause lung, bladder, oral cancers, stomach cancer, cancer of the esophagus, reduced lung function, and decrease fertility.
- Babies born to people who use hookah are also at an increased risk for respiratory diseases
READ: Ready To Quit Smoking? Find A Class To Help You
It doesn’t matter how appeasing hookah and vaping appear to the eye, it is NOT a safe alternative to smoking. Using tobacco products is addictive and inherently dangerous to your health. Long-term usage and exposure to smoking can cause cancer and shorten your life with your loved ones who would want to cherish every moment with you. If you are thinking about quitting and would like help to kick your smoking habit resources are available to you here.