Anti-smoking drives threatened by ‘hubble bubble’ craze

Have you ever tried hookah? Also known as ‘hubble bubble’, this originally Arabic practice involves inhaling tobacco smoke through a pipe, once it has been filtered through water. It's fair to say that it has really taken off in the Western world where hookah cafes and bars have sprung up across the UK in particular. Visitors will typically spend an hour or so, relaxing with friends as they puff away, trying out different flavours of tobacco.

The problem that the rising popularity of these hookah establishments bring, is the threat to the achievements made by anti-smoking bans. These bans stop public smoking, but most do not extend to licensed hookah premises. Because hookah users generally smoke a lot of tobacco at once, their health is put at risk.

In Canada, a spokesperson for the Smokers' Rights Association warned: "From a public health standpoint, we really do need to nip this in the bud before we've got a hookah lounge on every corner." A study in the Canadian province of Quebec has showed a substantial rise in the number of young adults using hookahs.

Safety myth

In the UK, the Mouth Cancer Foundation charity report on their website that some people use hookah believing it to be safer than smoking cigarettes. However, they point out that this is a “myth”. They go on: “recent studies have found that hookah smokers actually inhale more nicotine than do cigarette smokers because of the massive volume of smoke they inhale.”

Water pipes may be fashionable, but as plenty of evidence attests, they can also be deadly.