There are almost no articles that speak of cigarettes without at least referencing some of the health effects. In Laura Eppinger's Oct. 11 article, "Egyptian pipe sparks student interest," she says hookah is considered a social activity. Although this can be true, it is quite irresponsible to not mention the health effects of smoking hookah.

Compared to cigarettes, hookahs burn cool. This means that hookah smokers can inhale much more deeply than cigarette smokers. Hookah smokers, on average, inhale 500 ml of smoke per puff (compared to 50 ml inhaled by cigarette smokers).

So one may ask, why do I care if the puffs taken on hookah are bigger? That means the hookah smoker's lungs, in a 45- to 60-minute smoking session of hookah, will be exposed to enough smoke to fill 25 two-liter bottles. When a cigarette smoker finishes one cigarette, the smoke that their lungs are exposed to will fill up 25 percent of one two-liter bottle.

OK, OK, so what? There is more smoke coming from hookah than a cigarette, right? Well, let's talk a little bit about what is in the smoke.

We all know that tar is the black, sticky substance that coats the lungs and that smokers cough up with a smoker's cough. Some hookah tobacco comes with the label "No Tar", which is true of any tobacco, until it is lit.

Once any type of tobacco is lit, the chemical reaction of the ignition causes tar to form. Compared to a cigarette, there is 36 times more tar in a hookah. And, I think, even more shocking is that there is almost two times more nicotine in hookah smoke than there is in cigarette smoke.

We are all well aware that people become addicted to cigarettes, and nicotine is the addictive drug in the cigarettes. That being said, it seems illogical to think that, with two times more nicotine, people can't or won't become addicted to hookah.

Now, I am not trying to tell readers what to do or how to do it. I just thought it wouldn't be fair to let them believe that hookah tobacco is purely social and there will be no health effects associated with it.

If you want more information and/or to access tobacco cessation services, please contact the Center for Health Education & Promotion at 288-5217 or http://www.marquette.edu/healthedu.,”Julie M. Weissbuch, Health Educator, Center for Health Education and Promotion”

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