Hubble Bubble Trouble: The Need for Education about and Regulation of Hookah Smoking

Abstract

A Middle Eastern tradition, hookah smoking involves burning flavored tobacco heated by charcoal, creating smoke that is filtered through water and ingested through the mouth using a hose. Hookah lounges are increasingly locating around college campuses in the United States, and websites offering hookah paraphernalia target U.S. high school and college students. In two studies involving interviews with college-age hookah smokers and analysis of website marketing practices, the authors investigate consumer beliefs and attitudes toward hookah smoking and the way it is portrayed online. The findings indicate that it is a social phenomenon, with young people introducing peers to the practice and websites promoting shared consumption experiences. Contrary to medical evidence, young people believe smoking sweetened tobacco through a hookah is nonaddictive and safer than cigarettes. Hookah lounges often are exempt from age restriction laws because many double as cafés and other eating establishments. Traditional tobacco warnings are not present in lounges or on websites. The findings highlight potential health dangers of hookah smoking and the need for education regarding this practice and demonstrate that regulatory oversight is needed.

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Normative Beliefs as Predictors of Hookah Smoking Initiation: A Longitudinal Study of University Students

“…Because in the current study positive attitudes had stronger associations with initiation compared with lower negative attitudes, it may be particularly valuable for interventions to rebut positive associations with HTS in order to prevent young adults from experimenting with it. This may prove to be particularly challenging, however, because HTS is frequently promoted as relaxing, pleasurable, fun, and sexual Griffiths, Harmon, & Gilly, 2011;Primack, Rice, et al, 2012). It is also consistent with the Theory of Reasoned Action that positive normative beliefs about HTS were associated with HTS initiation, supporting Hypothesis 3.…”

“…There are substantial misperceptions among users about the safety and potential of addiction related to HTS (Griffiths et al, 2011). However, no associations were found between knowledge of hookah tobacco toxicants and initiation of HTS, which led to the rejection of Hypothesis 4.…”

Shisha Smoking and Associated Factors among Medical Students in Malaysia

“…A report from Canada states that the misconceptions about the health risk of shisha are strengthened by the lack of information provided by Government such as lack of warning label for shisha tobacco pack and accessories (City of Ottawa, 2010). There are no advertisements from mass media as well as no age restriction laws against buying or smoking shisha in restaurants (Griffiths et al, 2011). The same policies that reduced the cigarettes smoking should be applied on shisha and shisha products (Griffiths et al, 2011).…”

“…There are no advertisements from mass media as well as no age restriction laws against buying or smoking shisha in restaurants (Griffiths et al, 2011). The same policies that reduced the cigarettes smoking should be applied on shisha and shisha products (Griffiths et al, 2011).…”

Fallacies about Water Pipe Use in Turksih University Students - What Might Be the Consequences?

“…80% was male and the mean age was 23 years. 40% of the smokers claimed that they do not smoke (Subasi et al, 2005;Smith-Simone et al, 2008 though narghile smoking likely exposes users to high levels of various toxicants and that the practice may be addictive , it is popularly perceived as less harmful and toxic than cigarette smoking because of the purported filtering effect of the water bubbler (Kandela, 2000;Ward et al, 2007;Smith-Simone et al, 2008;Griffiths et al, 2011;Al-Naggar and Bobryshev, 2012).Volatile aldehydes, especially formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and acrolein were shown in narghile smoke (Al Rashidi et al, 2008). These are associated with a significant number of cigarette smoking diseases including chronic pulmonary disorder and cancer (Cogliano et al, 2004).…”