The Hookah Craze: More Than A Bong?

Hookahs and hookah lounges have been taking off in the US since the 70s and 80s. It seems they have become more prevelant in larger cities.

Many would think on the surface they are like marijuana bongs. However, they are more than that.

Hookahs have been around for hundreds of years. They were created in a similar design to bongs. However, they had tobacco instead of cannibis. Middle Easterners really popularized them. Then they spread to Asia.  By this time, hookah lounges were popular.  Years later, they would come to the US and people were intrigued.

However, regulations had to be enforced for many lounges to stay open. They could no longer use simply tobacco or flavored tobacco in their hookahs. It had to be a tobacco substitute. The tobacco used prior already had different fruit flavors and such. Now there couldn't be any pure tobacco.

The secondhand smoke and toxins released into the body have proven to be just as harmful as smoking three cigarettes. This goes for the hookahs that don't have traditional tobacco.

I believe hookahs have gotten popular for the novelty alone. People are always looking into the next craze or what's cool. It goes back to the playground as a child either. For the most part, hookahs are not harmful. However, if you have one and are using it every night, or if you visit the lounge every weekend, you could have a problem.

Since they have been around for hundreds of years, I hardly see them as a fad. However, I do see them as something that FDA and other health officials could be keeping a closer eye on. Like anything else, moderation needs to be in order.