The Healthy Blogger

Smoking shisha pipes is not safe

It has emerged that smoking shisha pipes is even more dangerous than smoking cigarettes, according to a report by the Department of Health and the Centre for Tobacco Control Research.

I find it strange that this activity has been gaining popularity amongst Middle Easterners and the Indian subcontinent.  It’s a long Arabic water-pipe that burns fruit-scented tobacco using coal.  There are shisha and hookah bars where people sit around smoking these things.  It has become quite trendy, especially with youths.

Given that most Middle Easterners and many from the Indian subcontinent (Pakistan) are Muslims, how can they condone this?  It’s a part of their culture, yet Islam forbids the use of alcohol and tobacco.  Just because it’s fruit-scented, does it make it less of a tobacco product?  Or is it the method of smoking that Islam accepts or rejects?

The fact that it’s fruit-scented does not make it any healthier than regular tobacco.  You could argue that it may make it more addictive, giving people a false sense of safety, just like the minted/menthol tobacco.  In fact, the report stated that it produced higher levels of carbon monoxide than a regular cigarette.  That should be food for thought for these young people.