Hookah as the Hook

There are many unknowns in the realm of hookah, the long-term effects, the reasons individuals start using, the addictiveness or non-addictiveness of it and so much more. This article attempted to add to the body of previous research on hookah and continue to shine a light on a subject that is growing rapidly in popularity and not so much in people’s knowledge of it. This research study involved 1,799 undergraduate students participating in a self-report; the questions asked were “within the past thirty days have you used hookah” and “within the past thirty days have you used _______”, filled in with either cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, and other amphetamines. The results came in that 253 out of 1,799, which is 14.1 percent, claimed to have done hookah in the past thirty days. Although they didn’t discover a link between any particular ethnic group being higher or lower in usage it was observed that one in five hookah users belonged to a fraternity or sorority. Out of the 253 that reported doing hookah the researchers noted that there was a vastly higher number that also smoked cigarettes (67.3%) compared to non-hookah users (28.8%). Also, double the amount of hookah users versus non-hookah users partook in using stimulants as well, 16.3 percent to 8.1 percent.

Some of these numbers may be staggering to individuals, especially in a society where young high schoolers are going out to hookah bars on Friday nights and it doesn’t raise any eyebrows. This research should be highly informing especially to parents who are knowingly allowing their kids to participate without maybe even being aware of the potential lifestyles they are setting up for their children in a few years down the road.

There are of course limitations to every study though including this one such as that it was a self-report and therefore people don’t necessarily have to tell the truth which would alter the data. Also, even though people would claim to do hookah, which is legal, that doesn’t necessarily mean they would claim to use illicit drugs because of the potential repercussions, which would also skew the data. 

Blachman-Braun, R., Del Mazo-Rodríguez, R. L., López-Sámano, G., & Buendía-Roldán, I. (2014). Hookah, is it really harmless? Respiratory Medicine, 108(5), 661-667. doi:10.1016/j.rmed.2014.01.013

Abstract