The Tragedy of Shisha Patronymic Determinism : Shishani, Shihadeh, Shawashi…

A shrewd comment on the following story:

Sarah Robinson. Health risks unexplored: Researchers embark on hookah smoking study. WSU (Washington State University) Today. 13 Oct 2010.

This story reveals the existence of a new shisha expert in the US. Her name is (hold your breath !): Shishani ! You’re dead ! As if the world hadn’t had enough with with Shihadeh and Shawashi!

Poor other ««waterpipe»»™ antismoking world leaders such as Wasim Maziak and Thomas Eissenberg, whose family names are not based on the so nice "shi"-"sha" syllables ! They must be so covetous and envidious !

Now, let’s have a look at the content of the paper. First, with such a title ("Researchers embark on hookah study"), the author seems to believe that this is the first study on this issue…

Quoteworthy: “Yet there have been few U.S. studies focused on hookah smoking and its effects at the national level. The most comprehensive was published in 2009 by Professor Thomas Eissenberg from Virginia Commonwealth University.”

Of course, such a statement is false and is antoher ludicrous form of US-patriotism… However, the revelations are left for the end:

Wasting of US taxpayer’s money...

Quotation: “John Roll, associate dean of research for the College of Nursing and director of WSU’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Program, said [...]: “Studies like this one [on dependency], which help to better characterize the physiological and subjective effects of hookah smoking, are crucial to developing pharmaceutical and behavioral treatment and prevention strategies” . “I am confident this will be a pathway for future funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as well as add to our portfolio of work.”

What does this jargon mean ? That even if is there is actually no serious addiction phenomenon to study (or at least, there are undoubtedly more urgent public health issues connected with the widespread use of shisha smoking), the NIH men are always ready to fund studies that will benefit Big Pharma (the pharmaceutical companies which produce, among other interesting medicines: nicotine gums, patches, inhalers, Chantix, etc...

Just as Electronic cigarettes, shisha is an unacceptable rival to cigarette. Big Pharma needs people to keep "hooked" on cigarettes so that it can go on selling its purported "solutions" to "nicotine addiction". Big Pharma needs Big Tobacco (the tobacco industry) like Adam needed Eva and vice-versa...

CONCLUSION

Therefore: no chemical dependence and no political economical independence !

The “NIH funding” label proves to be sort of fig leaf for Big Pharma’s funding.

RELEVANT READINGS

On the previous famous lies of the American Cancer Society (cited in the article)

Hookah and lung cancer

On those of the American Lung Association (also cited) whose experts even resorted to image faking in the past:

An Emerging Deadly Trend : Waterpipe Tobacco Use…

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For a Handful of Dollars… WHO Group Funds Biased and Erroneous Shisha Study in Pakistan

NEW PUBLICATION: by Qudsia ANJUM, Farah AHMED, Tabinda ASHFAQ: Knowledge, attitude and perception of water pipe smoking (Shisha) among adolescents aged 14-19 years. J Pak Med Assoc. 2008 Jun;58(6):312-7.

“This project was funded by the World Health Organization, Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (WHO-EMRO) as part of their special grant for research in priority areas of public health during the year 2006. We are extremely grateful to all the respective authorities of WHO EMRO for their continuous supervision and liaison in relation to completion of this project.”

The official objective (refer to above link) was “to study the impact of educational intervention on knowledge, attitude and practices with regard to water pipe smoking among adolescents (14-19 years old) in Karachi.”

OBSERVATORY says: Like boggery !

Have a look at the stupid questionnaire (of course directly inspired by highly scientifically "validated" ones “designed” by the The ““Waterpipe””™ Specialized US-Syrian Centre staff and now disseminated as a “model” around the world and quickly gulped down by poor fishes in ““developing” countries” who choke on them further to our criticisms.

Example of item in questionnaire:

“Shisha café are playing an important role in promotion of water pipe” YES or NO ?

OBSERVATORY asks: Shouldn’t we rather say ““Waterpipe””™ is playing an important role in promotion of Shisha café” ?

Other items (Laugh ! You aren't in Wonderland !):

“Water pipe smoking makes boys more attractive” YES or NO ?

“Water pipe smoking makes girls more attractive” YES or NO ?

And the conclusion of the scientific analysis of all the collected data is, watch out !, that:

“The knowledge of the students regarding water pipe smoking improved after the health awareness sessions” ! Case Made !

See also that:

“Regarding health perceptions, the opinion of students to whether water pipe smoking is addictive increased after the intervention sessions (54% vs 68%; p<0.001).>Knowledge about water pipe is more addictive than cigarettes increased among students from 11% to 32% (p<0.001)>

Therefore, the objective of this study was chiefly to make students declare that shisha is more addictive than cigarettes ! Remember the world ““waterpipe””™ experts who have been declaring for years (until we put a sock in their mouths) that hookah smoking was MUCH MORE dangerous than cigarettes)!

Who’s standing behind the WHO funding ? Big Pharma ? And they call this Science ! WHO Tobacco Kontrol' “Science for All”, “Educating ignorant researchers in the so-called “developing countries”. Anjum and colleagues cite the WHO calamitous report on ““waterpipe””™ and other not less disastrous documents. Man, this was certainly a condition for the handful of dollars they have received from the WHO section there or whichever go-between…

They have also apparently taken great benefit from The Sacred Narghile and preferred to cite the latter instead of mentioning the hard publications of its consultant for scientific and international affairs. The reason is simple: he is the author of the above critiques ! Full stop beating about the bush Anjum !

In this , the technique is similar to the one adopted in other junk studies, particularly from the College of Nursing at Wayne State University (Detroit, USA): Linda WEGLICKI, Thomas TEMPLIN, Virginia Hill RICE, Hikmet JAMIL and Adnan HAMMAD. Comparison of Cigarette and Water-Pipe Smoking by Arab and Non-Arab-American Youth. Am J Prev Med. 2008 Aug 1

RELEVANT READINGS:

As if US air strikes on Pakistani civilian populations were not enough, the Observatary asks: Do Pakistanis need imported junk science ? Another previous junk study by Ali JAWAID from Pakistan:

The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease Publishes a Junk Pakistani ““Waterpipe””™ Study and another one Citing a Junk Reference

Read other Pakistani good stuff from proud Pakistanis who know what a hookah and a shisha are and who are no puppets in the hands of foreign organizations with a dubious agenda for the world in general and their country in particular:

Ziauddin SARDAR's unpolitically correct message in The New Stateman (June 21, 2007): Let my son and me teach you how to smoke

DON'T MISS: Medical journal criticizes WHO for neglecting evidence

'This is a pretty seismic event. It undermines the very purpose of WHO.'—Lancet editor Dr. Richard Horton

Read diplomatic exchange of notes between our consultant and David BETTCHER in WHO:

WHO and Peer-Review Standards in Studies on Hookah Smoking


MOTTO
Pakistanis of the World, Free Thinkers and Independent Researchers of Low-Income Countries, Unite ! Resist Pressures ! Decolonize Your Colleagues' Minds ! Save your dignity and reject suspect funding just as others avoid what you call "Haram" ! Those who ask you to do this kind of biased research are paid hundreds of thousands of dollars per year while some of you are literally starving. Remember Jesus’ words: “Don’t Be Afraid !”

Image: Courtesy of Karachi Metblogs

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All Hookah Addicts of the World, Let’s All Chant…ix !

"The first and foremost fact concerning the beneficial effects of the Pfizer manufactured quit smoking drug Chantix is that the medicine which has been approved by the FDA as a successful treatment for smoking addiction in adults is a worthy solution for all types of smoking addiction. The smoking addictions where Chantix can prove to be a viable treatment are namely hookah smoking, cigarette smoking, addiction to chewing tobacco et al. (...)”

“As a consequence, pertaining to hookah or shisha smoking, a concept has been gaining ground among the smoking fraternity that this particular type of smoking where a water pipe is utilized in order to inhale tobacco subjects is comparatively lesser harmful than cigarette smoking. But alas! This is not the reality. A significant comparison between hookah smoking and tobacco smoking has been done by World Health Organization (WHO) which has made apparent, the harmful consequences of hookah smoking. The real facts unearthed by WHO [SEE HERE "THE REAL FACTS UNEARTHED BY WHO" AND ALL THE EVIDENCE] point out that in a single session of tobacco smoking, a person inhales 100% more tobacco in comparison to cigarette smoking.”

“Further, in a report the premier UN health agency has divulged that the smoke emanating from a water pipe used in a hookah session contains toxic materials, especially carcinogens capable of causing lung cancer [Read this officialised truth in a peer-reviewed journal AND Revelations about Hookah and Cancer], heart diseases, and a whole lot of other ailments abundantly. As all the disastrous consequences of hookah smoking have become evident and further high level of nicotine is known to be present in hookah smoke, Chantix is the ultimate nicotine fighter to be sought out by men and women who are addicted to hookah smoking (…)”

“Please note that if you will administer chantix in accordance with the instructions of the physician, the drug will definitely provide relief from nicotine addiction!” For exhaustive sound and objective information, visit NOW Chantixhome. As hookah addicts, your entry page will be: Addicted To Hookah Smoking Or Cigarette Smoking? Chantix Can Help!

NOTE for French readers: Chantix is known in their country (that of Champain…) as Champix. Recently, two French experts openly suggested its use to treat “hookah addicts” (see their book titled « Tout ce que vous ne savez pas sur la chicha [Everything you could not know about shisha smoking]», pages 87-88. They also state that "The great risk is that shisha, progressively, take the place of cigarettes" (page 58, in bold characters)... A "great risk" for whom ? For the Pharmaceutical Industry ?

We hope our visitors, who have heard of Big Tobacco (the Tobacco Industry) and Big Anti-Tobacco (the Anti-Tobacco Industry), are now aware of the existence and the powerful influence of Big Pharma (the Pharmaceutical Industry)(1) and why the latter wants hookah smokers to be necessarily addicted-on-nicotine... If not, READ AGAIN Hookah Addiction Theories. A Call to all Independent Researchers to Avoid the “Nicotine Dependence” Dogma and the ““Waterpipe”” Worldwide Fraud

(1) and the importance for authors of studies on hookah (narghile, shisha) smoking to declare honestly all their competing interests, particularly in the Pharmaceutical Industry because it is said to fund, in one way or another, about 75% of studies on tobacco smoking (effects of nicotine, etc.).

As to effectiveness of Chantix in cigarette or cigar smokers, we can't say as we are not specialized in this field. For relevant critiques, please refer to sites such as Unairneuf or the Revue Prescrire

READ ALSO the laundered and recycled version of the WHO Seriously Erroneous 1st Expert Report on "Waterpipe"™ , namely the Cochrane Review titled “Waterpipe Smoking Cessation" and prepared by Wasim MAZIAK, Kenneth WARD and Thomas EISSENBERG .
In this document, the authors who are chief members of the joint US-Syrian Center for Tobacco Studies and viewed as the ““Waterpipe”™ ““top “experts”” of the world, are ready to envisage Bupropion (Zyban) for Treatment of “Waterpipe”™ “Addicts” ! An “update” of their “gold standard” Cochrane “peer-reviewed” publication seems necessary now that Chantix (Varenicline) is here to stay…


In collaboration with KC

Qotations from Chantixhome: “Cease Smoking with Chantix, the Cessation Pill !"

Image: courtesy of Seguro Social


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Hookah Addiction Theories. A Call to all Independent Researchers to Avoid the “Nicotine Dependence” Dogma and the ““Waterpipe”” Worldwide Fraud

QUOTATIONS FROM THE COMMUNIQUE (Jan 21, 2008):

"Drs Pascale, Myrna and Zeina from Lebanon have just published a study on ““Waterpipe”” Dependence [1] in NTR (Nicotine and Tobacco Research), a journal which has recently published a huge scientific error in relation to narghile smoking and lung cancer. Despite its disclosure, the Editors refused to correct it, whereby violating the editorial ethical code they are supposed to adhere to [2].

One of the Lebanese team’s findings is that more than 90% of so-called “mild smokers” (“<3> [… READ FULL COMMUNIQUE HERE ]

Independent Researchers of the World: Unchain Yourselves by rejecting "Nicotine Addiction" Prevalent Theories !

READ ALSO: The “Nicotine and Tobacco Research” Journal Endorses a Scientific Error as Big and Carcinogenic as a Yemeni Narghile Bowl !

READ ALSO: All Hookah Addicts of the World, Let’s All Chant…ix !

Image: courtesy of ebc

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Cochrane 2007 Review Masquerade on ““Waterpipe”™ Smoking Cessation” (Wasim Maziak, Thomas Eissenberg, Kenneth Ward) Is Summertime Blues !

COMMUNIQUE (29 October 2007):

"The Cochrane 2007 Review Masquerade on ““Waterpipe”” Smoking Cessation (by Wasim MAZIAK, Kenneth WARD and Thomas EISSENBERG), its By-Products and the Suspect Unbalanced Focus on ““Waterpipe”” Smoking vs. Cigarette Smoking"

QUOTATIONS:

"I'm gonna take two weeks, gonna have a fine vacation; I'm gonna take my problems to the United Nations [...] Sometimes I wonder what I'm a gonna do; But there ain't no cure for the summertime blues"
(Eddie Cochran, rock’n’roll singer of the fifties, Summertime Blues) LISTEN AND WATCH SUMMERTIME BLUES HERE !

"The Cochrane Library contains high-quality, independent evidence to inform healthcare decision-making. It includes reliable evidence from Cochrane and other systematic reviews, clinical trials, and more. Cochrane reviews bring you the combined results of the world’s best medical research studies, and are recognised as the gold standard in evidence-based health care." (The Cochrane Library)

NEW FINDINGS: World ““Waterpipe”™ Experts” ready to envisage Bupropion (Zyban) for Treatment of “Waterpipe”™ “Addicts” !

also: "Evidence-based information about waterpipe’s addictive and harmful properties should be developed and disseminated in order to deglamourise and denormalise its use".

THE BIG QUESTION: "Deglamourise" and "denormalise" hookah, narghile and shisha or the cumulating related pseudo-science funded by US tax-payers' millions of dollars ?

More in: FULL COMMUNIQUE HERE (includes translation into French). Once again, hidden conflicts of interest in a "gold standard" (Cochrane claims this) "study", meta-errors in a high-sounding meta-analysis (by Neergaard and coll.), etc., etc., etc.

READ ALSO: Healthy brave emerging counter-literature from great academics of the world:

1) Pr Carl P. (Alberta). Warning: Anti-tobacco activism may be hazardous to epidemiologic science. Epidemiologic Perspectives & Innovations 2007 (22 Oct);4:13.
http://www.epi-perspectives.com/content/4/1/13 (full text free)

2) Pr James E. (California). Defending legitimate epidemiologic research: combating Lysenko pseudoscience. Epidemiologic Perspectives & Innovations 2007 (10 Oct);4:11
http://www.epi-perspectives.com/content/4/1/11 (full text free)

3) Pr Michael S. (Boston). Is the tobacco control movement misrepresenting the acute cardiovascular health effects of secondhand smoke exposure? An analysis of the scientific evidence and commentary on the implications for tobacco control and public health practice. Epidemiologic Perspectives & Innovations 2007 (10 Oct);4:12
http://www.epi-perspectives.com/content/4/1/12 (full text free)

See also the tremendous sites of the above authors:

The Rest of the Story:Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary (Pr Michael S., Boston)

Scientific Integrity Institute (Pr James E., California)

The Tobacco Harm Reduction project (Pr Carl P., Alberta)


4) POWERFUL BOOK written by two professors from Tel Aviv Universities: Hanan F. and Reuven D.: A Critique of Nicotine Addiction. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000.

A key-book to understand why the dependence on hookah is so mysterious. Note: often censored. This book concludes that "on present evidence, there is every reason to reject the generally accepted theory that nicotine has a major role in cigarette smoking. A critical examination of the criteria for drug addiction demonstrates that none of these criteria is met by nicotine, and that it is much more likely that nicotine in fact limits rather than facilitates smoking." ORDER HERE

Image: courtesy of Buddy Holly Live

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QUELQUES FAITS A GARDER A L’ESPRIT

QUELQUES FAITS A GARDER A L’ESPRIT

NICOTINE et GOUDRONS
Le narguilé ne filtre pas toute la nicotine et tous les goudrons mais nous pouvons dire qu'une séance d'une heure fournit plus ou moins un niveau de nicotine équivalent à celui trouvé dans une cigarette. Quant aux goudrons, leur taux dépend de la taille du dispositif, de la nature de l'eau, de la fréquence de l'inhalation et d'autres facteurs. Cependant, ne comptez pas obtenir une filtration supérieure à la moitié des goudrons initialement produits.
Cela dit, les goudrons du narguilé sont peut-être moins dangereux que ceux de la cigarette parce que les températures sont complètement différentes: c. 100°C dans le premier cas et c. 900°C dans le dernier. Plus la température est élevée et plus dangereux et cancérigènes sont les goudrons.

Une récente étude polémique réalisée en laboratoire a malheureusement créé beacoup de confusion parce qu'elle n'a aucun rapport avec le comportement des fumeurs ordinaires:
Alan Shihadeh and Rawad Saleh (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, “tar”, and nicotine in the mainstream smoke aerosol of the narghile water pipe. Food and Chemical Toxicology. 2005 (May); 43(5): 655-661).

Selon Geneviève, elle ne prouve qu'une seule chose: ce qu'il ne faut pas faire:
-fumer comme un métronome
-utiliser du charbon artificiel à allumage "quick"
-ne pas changer la position du charbon au dessus de la feuille d'aluminium
-fumer jusqu'au bout, jusqu'à la carbonisation totale du tabamel.

NICOTINE et DÉPENDANCE
il est difficile de décider. D'une part, les fumeurs vraiment dépendants de narguilé (plutôt en Asie et en Afrique) semblent ne pas devenir, un jour ou un autre, des fumeurs de cigarette. D'autre part, les mêmes utilisateurs dépendants de narguilé (tumbâk ou tabamel), dans une situation où ils ne peuvent pas accéder à une pipe, ne passent pas à la cigarette qui pourrait, en le supposant, leur fournir la nicotine. Étonnamment, les fumeurs de tumbâk (tabac pur mouillé et non aromatisé), dans une situation où un narguilé n'est pas disponible, n'accepteraient pas, même temporairement, de fumer du tabamel et vice-versa. Ainsi, la question de la nicotine n'est pas décidée du tout. La dépendance, quand elle se produit (rare dans le cas d'un usage récréatif), serait une structure complexe pas nécessairement centrée sur la nicotine mais, plutôt, sur la cotinine et les arômes sans oublier le contexte social et culturel de la « situation » lequel pourrait jouer un rôle pas si mineur.

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QUELQUES “TUYAUX” pour fumer plus “proprement”

QUELQUES “TUYAUX” pour fumer plus “proprement”
(étant entendu que seul l’air pur est sain pour votre santé !)
si vous ne pouvez vous abstenir de fumer

Attention ! Nous ne faisons aucune promotion mais nous sommes très préoccupés par votre santé. Aussi, nous faisons cela dans une perspective de "réduction des risques" et ainsi sauver des vies.


NOTRE MEILLEUR CONSEIL
Essayez de fumer une fois par semaine ou seulement en certaines occasions (anniversaires, Noël, mariages, fiançailles, pique-nique, etc.) comme font depuis des siècles ces peuples d’Asie et d’Afrique que vous aimez.

MONOXYDE DE CARBONE
Idéalement, une résistance électrique réduirait la production de ce gaz dangereux. Cependant, si vous n'êtes pas en possession d'un tel dispositif, ce que vous pouvez faire est:
- fumer en plein-air, par exemple dans un patio ou un jardin vert entouré de plantes.
- employer un plus grand narguilé. En fait, plus le narguilé est grands, moins il produit du monoxyde de carbone.
- employer du charbon de bois naturel au lieu du charbon de bois commercial (auto-allumage, etc.). Un autre problème avec ce dernier, sans compter que son odeur est méchante pendant les quelques minutes suivant son allumage, est que sa composition est inconnue. Ce produit pratique pourrait cependant contenir des éléments dangereux.
- de temps en temps, souffler (au lieu de l'air d’aspirer) à l'intérieur du tuyau pour débarrasser la fumée du CO s'accumulant au-dessus de l'urne contenant l'eau.
- ne pas tasser trop le mélange de tabac à l'intérieur du fourneau.

INHALATION
- Efforcez-vous de ne pas inhaler profondément. Essayez de « crapauter », à la manière de ce batracien qui ouvre sa gueule avant de happer les insectes étourdis.
- Les fumeurs de cigarette doivent bien comprendre qu'une séance d'une heure de narguilé fournit dans le plus mauvais cas l’équivalent en nicotine de seulement une cigarette. Aussi, ils devraient comprendre que le narguilé ne peut en aucun cas être une alternative à leur habitude tabagique. Ce serait une illusion et un autre problème serait que ces utilisateurs tendraient naturellement à inhaler plus profondément pour "compenser" ce manque.

LE TUYAU
- Partagez le tuyau parce que c'est une vieille tradition de quatre siècles en Asie et en Afrique. En faisant ceci, vous inhalerez moins de fumée et conserverez les dimensions collective, conviviale, ludique et récréative de cet usage. En plus, vous éloignerez le spectre éventuel de la dépendance qui existe quand même quoiqu'il est complètement différent de celui induit par la cigarette.

GOUDRONS
- La production de goudrons varie avec la fréquence des inhalations mais aussi de leur périodicité. Ca veut dire qu'il vaut beaucoup mieux inhaler une fois toutes les 2 minutes qu'une fois toutes les 30 seconces. Ca veut dire aussi qu'il vaut mieux inhaler de manière aléatoire que rythmiquement à la manière d'un métronome. Sinon, vous ressemblerez à la machine utilisée dans une étude polémique (pressez le bouton ici).

Bref, observez des pauses durant lesquelles vous pourriez, par exemple, méditer sur le sens de la vie ou l'origine du narguilé.
- Plus long est le tuyau mieux c’est.
- l'utilisateur ne devrait pas devenir un extrémiste. Ainsi il doit apprendre à cesser de fumer avant la fin de la séance. Autrement, il inhalerait des éléments impurs de combustion.

EAU
- Changez l’eau du récipient aussi souvent que possible.
- Changez le pH (“acidité”) de l’eau pour diminuer plus grandement la nicotine.
- Cherchez et trouvez les substances chimiques adaptées (« ad hoc ») pour que avec le mélange à l’eau, l’eau arrête beaucoup d’éléments nocifs (goudrons, etc.). Note: l’eau arête déjà beaucoup d’entre eux (dont des éléments cancérigènes renommés). Mais nous pouvons citer pour exemple l’acroléine et l’acétaldéhyde dont la filtration rend la fumée du houka même acceptable par les… non-fumeurs.

Photo: courtesy of The Hookah Company

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Some Facts to Bear in Mind

Some Facts to Bear in Mind

NICOTINE AND TAR
Hookah does not filter all nicotine and tar but we can say that a one hour session provides more or less a nicotine level equivalent to that found in one cigarette. As for tar, it depends on the size of the device, the nature of water, the frequency of inhalation and other factors. However, don't expect to get more than half of the initial tar filtered out. However, hookah tar is perhaps less dangerous than cigarette tar because the temperatures are completely different: c. 100°C in the first case and c. 900°C in the latter. The more elevated the temperature is the more dangerous and carcinogenic tar is.

IMPORTANT NOTE CONCERNING TAR YIELDS:
There is a tremendous confusion about this point : 36 times, 100 times, 1000 times more tar than a cigarette ? This collective hystery was triggered by a recent controversial study carried on in a laboratory where a puffing machine was supposed to reflect the average smoker's behavior. In fact, it is far from representing a model for narghile smoking in the real world. Besides, what makes "tar" hazardous is not its quantity but the temperatures by which it is supported.

Alan Shihadeh and Rawad Saleh (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, “tar”, and nicotine in the mainstream smoke aerosol of the narghile water pipe. Food and Chemical Toxicology. 2005 (May); 43(5): 655-661).

An independent researcher has analyzed this issue in detail and his comments were published (download here). Some of them (regarding tar and benzopyren) are available here

In the opinion of Genevieve (*), this controversial study establishes and confirms one sole thing : what smokers should not do :

-smoke like a metronom
-use quick-light charcoal (not "natural")
-not move around the coal above the aluminium foil

-smoke till the end, until the tobamel mixture get sort of charred.

(*) Note: Genevieve, as a young researcher, will publish in 2006 her first study on narghile. Be there !

NICOTINE and DEPENDENCE
It’s hard to decide. On the one hand, really dependent hookah smokers (mostly to be found in Asia and Africa) seem not to become, one day or another, cigarette smokers. On the other hand, the same dependent hookah users (either of unflavoured or flavoured tobacco) would not, in a situation where they cannot access a pipe, switch to cigarette smoking that could, we can assume that, provide them with nicotine. Amazingly, tumbak (raw moistened unflavoured tobacco) smokers, in a situation where a hookah is not available, would not accept, even temporarily, to smoke tobamel (flavoured tobacco) and vice-versa. So, the question of nicotine is not decided at all. Dependence, when it happens (rare in the case of recreational use), would be a complex structure not necessarily centred on nicotine but, rather, on cotinine and flavours not to forget the social and cultural setting of the “situation” which might play a not so minor role.

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Media and Pseudo-Scientific Propaganda Against Hookah

Media and Pseudo-Scientific Propaganda Against Hookah
Below is a sample of growing media propaganda trying to sell the idea that the use of hookah leads to that of cigarettes within the context of official scientific studies (browse this site) intending to do the same.

If somebody craves for a cigarette puff at the end of a hookah session, then this individual was dependent on cigarette before he sat for shisha, wasn’t (s)he ? More, it shows how the hookah nicotine yield is low compared to that of cigarette.

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Teenagers smoking shisha for 'dessert'By Jassmine Shadiqe

Teenagers, denied cigarettes under the law, are freely smoking flavoured tobacco (shisha) in Arabian-style pipes (the hookah) at hawker centres and food outlets in the city. The practice has caught on in recent months, with even family-oriented restaurants in Desa Sri Hartamas, Jalan Bukit Bintang and Bangsar Baru offering the pipes for between RM10 and RM12 an hour.
Unlike cigarettes, which can only be bought by those above 18, children as young as 10 have been seen puffing on shisha.
There is also the added danger of users contracting contagious diseases as they usually share the pipes.
A New Straits Times poll of teenagers who used shisha revealed that some graduated to cigarettes after smoking the flavoured tobacco.
According to them, they wanted stronger tobacco after using shisha.
The tobacco, traditionally mixed with fruit molasses and honey, comes in flavours such as strawberry, pineapple, apple, banana, grape, mixed fruits, mango, cappucino, coffee and even carbonated drinks like coke.
Smoking from a hookah has been practised in the Middle East for centuries, and is said to originate from Turkey. It has become fashionable in other parts of the world and is catching on here.
The hookah comprises a metal stand with outlets for hose pipes, a tray, a clay bowl, and a base usually of glass or crystal which contains water.

A metal tube, with one end submerged in the water, runs through, and when the pipes are smoked, the shisha smoke is drawn through the water.
To ensure customers do not hog the hookahs, stall operators charge them an additional RM10 after the charcoal, used for heating the tobacco, is changed for the third time.
Ummirah Kadir, 19, said she first tried shisha three years ago and moved on to cigarettes soon after.
"I used shisha after seeing older people using it. I moved on to cigarettes and am now addicted to them" she said.
Her friend Linda Jeffri, 19, said she was not concerned about the tobacco content of the shisha as she only used it for relaxation.
"I tried shisha about a year ago and smokes it with friends almost every weekend nowadays," she said.
Sally Chew, 17, said she usually smoks shisha at Bangsar Baru while hanging out with friends.
"It costs only RM10 for an hour and I can smoke it with five to 10 friends," said the student, who agreed that shisha-smoking could lead to cigarettes.
Her friends who were with her said they were not aware whether shisha contained nicotine.
Muhammad Mahmud, 44, an Egyptian married to a local and who runs a stall along Jalan Bukit Bintang selling shisha for RM12 per hookah, said he did not sell them to youths under 18 years.
He said he was not aware of any side-effects from smoking shisha.
He said smoking shisha was the culture in Middle East countries but it appeared to be more a fashion statement in Asia.
"I have seen parents who allow their young children to smoke it under their supervision but if an unsupervised minor asks for the shisha, I decline," he said.
At Sri Hartamas, Razak Ramli, 20, and his girlfriend Norlia Aida Lufti, 17, said the shisha was certainly a stepping stone to cigarettes for youngsters.
Razak, a despatch rider with a bank, said he noted that he smoked more cigarettes every time he used the shisha.
"I am not satisfied by the shisha and have to take a cigarette for the extra kick."
Norlia said she started out with shisha and graduated to cigarettes. "Nowadays I must have a cigarette after the shisha," she added.
Indonesian shisha operator in Bangsa Baru, Mohd Tham Andri, 23, said he ventured into the business about three months ago as it was lucrative.
He has six hookahs and makes about RM300 a day. He operates between 8pm and 2am daily.
"For users, the shisha is like dessert after a meal. Business is very good, especially on Fridays and Saturdays."
Tham, who said most of his customers were teenagers, does not monitor their age.
"As long as they can pay, I will allow them to use it. I am not sure if it is against the laws to sell shisha to minors. I know it is an offence to sell cigarettes to minors."
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© Copyright 2004 The New Straits Times Press (M) Berhad. All rights reserved.

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A FEW TIPS to smoke safer (knowing that only pure air is safe !) if you cannot refrain from smoking

HOOKAH NARGHILE WATERPIPE: A FEW TIPS

to smoke safer (knowing that only pure air is safe !)

if you cannot refrain from smoking

Watch out ! We are not promoting anything but we are very concerned so we suggest hereafter a few "harm reduction" hints to save lives

[Added material Oct 23, 2010: "Even regarding charcoal, there are so many ways to smoke in a healthier way (harm reduction options) but these prohibitionist hygienist people are stubborn and stuck to a global agenda serving the economic interests of the pharmaceutical industry (nicotine gums, pills, inhalers, Chantix, etc.) which , in a way or another, funds them"]

THE BEST ADVICE

First off, try to smoke only once a week then only on social occasions (birthdays, Christmas, wedding parties, picnics, etc.) just like those peoples you love in Asia and Africa have been doing for centuries.

CARBON MONOXIDE

Ideally, an electrical resistance would drastically reduce the amount of this dangerous gas. However, if you are not in possession of such a device, what you can do is:

-smoking outdoors, for instance in a green patio or garden surrounded with plants.
-using a bigger hookah. Effectively, the bigger the pipe, the lesser it produces CO.
-using natural charcoal instead of commercial (self-lighting and the lot) charcoal. Another problem with the latter, besides its nasty smell during the few minutes following its lighting up, is that its composition is unknown. This handy commodity might however contain dangerous elements.
-from time to time, blowing (instead of drawing air) inside the hose to get rid of the smoke CO building up over the water urn.
-not cramming too much the tobacco mixture inside the bowl.

INHALATION

- Try not inhale deeply. Retain smoke in your mouth ("chipping") imitating toads before they gulp down insects.
-It must be clear to cigarette smokers that a single one-hour hookah session provides in the worst case with the nicotine equivalent of only one cigarette so they should understand that hookah cannot be an alternative to their cigarette smoking habit. This would be an illusion and another problem would be that these users would naturally tend to inhale deeper and deeper in order to "compensate".

THE HOSE

-Share the hose because it is a four-century old tradition in Asia and Africa. By doing this, you will inhale less smoke and keep to the habit its essential playful, collective, convivial and recreational dimensions and, by the same token, you will move to a distance, further off and banish the dependency spectre which also exists albeit it’s completely different from that induced by cigarette smoking.

TAR

-The production of tar varies accordingly with the frequency of inhalations but also with their periodicity. This means that it is certainly better, from a health point of view, to inhale once every 2 minutes than twice each minute. This also means that it is much better to inhale at IRregular intervals (in an every which random way) than rhythmically like a rocking chair or a metronome. Otherwise, you could agree with the findings of a controversial study (press here).

In short, make pauses and breaks during which you could, for example, meditate upon the hidden meaning of life or give thought to the mysterious origin of the narghile, also called hookah...
-The longer the hose the better it is.
-The user should not become an extremist so he must learn to stop smoking before the end of the session. Otherwise, he would inhale impure combustion elements.

WATER
- Change water as often as possible.
- Change the pH (“acidity”) of water to hold back as much as nicotine as possible.
- Find the ad hoc chemical substances to be added to water to stop as many harmful elements (tar, etc.) as possible. Note: water already stops many of them (among them some known carcinogens). Let’s only consider here acrolein and acetaldehyde the filtration of which makes hookah smoke accepted even by… non-smokers.

[Added December 2007: Shocking ! Two Well Regarded Scientists Go Beyond All Acceptable Limits by Giving Tips to Hookah (Narghile, Shisha) Smokers !]

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