List of Pros and Cons of the Hookah

In recent years, the hookah has become a much larger part of pop culture and its usage has spread like wildfire. With hookah bars opening up all over the country, the time has come to explore the advantages and disadvantages that come with the use of a hookah. Any time a trend emerges, there are those who fall on both sides of the argument and the hookah has never been more trendy.

In order to determine whether a hookah is right for you, it is important to explore the pros and cons. Proper evaluation is a key aspect of any situation, especially those that concern your immediate and long term health. Let’s take a closer look at both sides of this debate.

List of Pros of the Hookah

1. Decreased Risk Of Oral Cancer.
While smoking a hookah carries certain medical risk factors, medical observers believe that smoking a hookah carries a decreased risk for oral cancer, when compared to more conventional forms of smoking. Since the hookah utilizes a hose to deliver the smoke, the user is able to inhale the tobacco without ever coming into close contact with the tar that has been linked to the onset of oral cancer.

Those who are looking for a way to satiate their nicotine cravings, while also avoiding cancer would do well to switch to the hookah. There are still a number of health risks involved with smoking a hookah, but they are markedly decreased. The mouth and lips are kept safe, making for a much less harmful smoking experience.

2. Relief of Stress.
One of the main reasons that people smoke at all is to relive and/or reduce their overall stress level. Cigarette smoking is often considered to be one of the best stress reducers, but in reality, they are merely a quick fix. Smoking cigarettes may lead to feelings of reduced stress, but regular cigarette smoking causes a person’s blood pressure to rise.

Meeting up with a group of buddies to hang out and smoke a hookah is also a great form of stress relief in and of itself. Social gatherings are a wonderful way to let your hair down and forget about the day to day problems that plague your existence. Any time that you can gather with friends and share thoughts, feelings and experiences, this does wonder for the relief of stress.

The majority of people who smoke hookah are not smoking one all by themselves. Hookahs are shared socially, which means that you are inhaling much less nicotine that you would have if you had chosen a cigarette or a cigar instead. Some may believe that hookah is more harmful, because of the much longer drag, but in all actuality, hookah is better for you than smoking a cigarette.

Hookah is a great way for those who are trying to wean themselves off tobacco to do so. Hookahs involve much less ingestion of nicotine than normal forms of tobacco consumption. While a person cannot come to rely on hookah as their main source of tobacco/nicotine, this does not mean that it cannot be enjoyed as an occasional replacement or within a social setting.

List of Cons of the Hookah

1. Flavor Additives Are Not Always Safe.
One of the main reasons that people enjoy smoking hookah is because they can choose from a variety of different tobacco flavors. Since hookah often relies on additives to achieve its cornucopia of fruit flavors, it is crucial for a person to know the dangers before becoming a regular hookah user. No matter how safe the smoking method is, adding anything to tobacco, then burning it, carries certain risks.

The safest form of hookah is the unflavored tobacco variety, but this may not appeal to those who prefer flavors. There is essentially no way to predict how the additives will react to being burned and there is always a risk of unforeseen health complications developing over the course of time. If you allow yourself to consume flavor additives regularly, you could be placing your health in jeopardy.

2. Spread of Disease.
Your friends are not always aware of the fact that they have a communicable disease and even if they are, they simply might be too embarrassed to tell you. Any person who regularly participates in the usage of hookah in a social setting needs to be aware of the fact that they are leaving themselves susceptible to diseases. If you pass a hose around a table and several people place their mouths on this hose, this greatly increases several disease risk factors.

3. Side Effects (Including Addiction).
There are a number of side effects that go along with hookah usage, up to and including addiction. When a person is not experienced in smoking hookah, they will typically experience some form of dizziness and nausea. They may even vomit. If you’re not accustomed to consuming tobacco, your first hookah experience may not be all that positive. Wooziness is also quite common.

Others fall under the false assumption that they can smoke a hookah as often as they would like, without becoming addicted. Hookah is just as addictive and also contains tobacco and nicotine. Hookah is also easier to smoke for those who have experience in using tobacco products, which can also end up greasing the skids for an addiction. The tobacco in hookah is no less addictive than the tobacco in cigarettes/cigars, so tread lightly.