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By Thomas Eissenberg, PhD
I am writing this post having recently returned from the First International Conference on Waterpipe Tobacco Research, which was held in Abu Dhabi in October. Sponsored by the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute, International Development Research Centre, Syrian Center for Tobacco Studies, NYUAbu DhabiPublicHealthResearchCenter, and the AmericanUniversity of Beirut, conference participants met to exchange expertise regarding waterpipe tobacco smoking – a rapidly growing epidemic. While many waterpipe tobacco smokers often think that this method of tobacco use is safe, all available scientific data demonstrate that it is in fact dangerous and addictive.
In recent years, there has been an increase in hookah use around the world, most notably among youth and university students. The United States is not immune. The Monitoring the Future survey for 12th grade students found that in 2012, 18.3% of high school seniors in the United States had used hookahs in the past year, up from 17.1% in 2010. Other studies of young adults indicate that hookah smoking is more prevalent among university students in the United States, with past-year use ranging from 22 percent to 40 percent.
Even this past week, in their latest Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that while cigarette use among our nation’s youth decreased between 2011 and 2012, consumption of non-conventional tobacco products, like electronic cigarettes and hookah, increased in that time period. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) currently does not regulate non-conventional products like hookah, and I am alarmed by the research that shows, in study after study, that these products are increasingly getting into the hands of America’s young people.
While many hookah smokers may consider this practice less harmful than smoking cigarettes, hookah smoking carries many of the same health risks. One reason is that smokers inhale charcoal combustion …read more
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