Doc cites hookah hooey

Level of smoke, herpes risk make safety pipe dream

By Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Matt McClain / The Rocky

Ahmad Elsall, 18, left, a University of Colorado at Denver student, smokes a hookah Tuesday at Habibi Hookah Cafe, 1800 S. Broadway, as Yam Alyamani, 18, waits his turn.

College students who opt for the supposedly safe smoke of a hookah pipe are sucking in the chemical equivalent of dozens of cigarettes and are risking mouth herpes and other diseases, a Colorado State University doctor says.

In the past couple of weeks, two CSU students, and possibly a third, developed mouth herpes shortly after attending their first sessions at Fort Collins hookah bars, said Dr. Jane Higgins, infection control physician at CSU's Hartshorn Health Services.

In the past few years, the number of hookah bars has increased to four in Fort Collins and to 25 in Denver, according to "Reducing Hookah Use," a report by TobaccoFreeU.org.

A typical session with a pipe at a hookah bar lasts 45 minutes to an hour and costs $10 to $20, the report said. The shisha tobacco used in hookah pipes often is soaked in molasses and honey.

Research has shown that one hour on a hookah pipe exposes the user to 100 to 200 times the volume of smoke of a single cigarette, according to the report, which is available at The Bacchus Network's Web site, which is devoted to keeping college students healthier.

The smoke also has high levels of arsenic, lead and nickel, 36 times the tar of a single cigarette and 15 times the carbon dioxide.

Higgins put the risk of contracting mouth herpes from a hookah pipe at roughly the same level as sharing drinks with friends.

But one Denver hookah cafe owner said his business takes several precautions to keep his customers safe.

"All the hookahs are washed after each use," said George Mansour, owner of Habibi Hookah Cafe, 1800 S. Broadway, where he has been in business for about six months.

"Each customer has his own tip, and it's not mouth-to- mouth," he said.

He said the plastic tips are disposed of after each use. And between each use, the hookah is brushed and the hoses are sanitized.

Customers also can use a filter.

Hookah bars are increasingly popular because of the sociability of sharing a pipe with friends and because college- age people think it's healthier than cigarettes, Higgins said.

"But it's an absolute myth" that because the smoke is filtered through water that smokers are getting nothing harmful, Higgins said.

Staff writer John Ensslin contributed to this report.

• March 11, 2008

  12:54 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  SufferingFromFools writes:

  So how do hookah bars get around the smoking ban? (Good for them!)

• March 11, 2008

  1:01 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  climber4life writes:

  don't blame hookahs on mouth herpes. Mouth herpes can be passed in ANY sort of way. But the title of this artcile speculates that hookahs spread herpes.

• March 11, 2008

  1:06 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  JustMe writes:

  They get around the smoking ban because more than 5% of their revenue is raised through tobacco sales - a requirement needed to be exempt from the smoking ban. Cigar bars are also exempt - this is no different.

• March 11, 2008

  1:15 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Shaupeen writes:

  Lung cancer AND mouth herpes? Mmmmmm. Sign me up!

• March 11, 2008

  1:32 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  whazzamattau writes:

  Why is it when kids go to college they get stupider? The myth that hookahs are safer than cigarettes is absolutely laughable.

• March 11, 2008

  1:39 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  freethought writes:

  Have there been any studies for bongs, pipes or the simple act of sharin' a doob? Don't share needles, and Bogart that joint. We all will be safer.

• March 11, 2008

  4:33 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  TheDenverB writes:

  "But the title of this artcile speculates that hookahs spread herpes."

  well, this article doesn't speculate that. it straight up comes out and says it. and you are right, you can get mouth herpes from a lot of places -- INCLUDING A HOOKAH.

  or from the bong you apparently are smoking.

• March 11, 2008

  9:49 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  happymike44 writes:

  Well so much for a safer way to smoke.I mean I know I don't want mouth herpes.Wow and it seems to be happening to only college students only,not likely.Because if everybody is using one device the odds are high that others have gotten herpes.Not just the colleg student.What a great way to improve the social bonding and you get herpes with that.I can tell you that I know people who will not eat off each others plate.Glad that I have given up smoking 4 years ago.

• March 12, 2008

  1:37 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  LoneTreeLady75 writes:

  LOL, mouth herpes. Sorry, I just think its funny how many times mouth herpes is mentioned in the article and on the comments. Mouth herpes.

• March 12, 2008

  2:39 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  livingwithherpes writes:

  I also saw this news at ### PozGroup.com ###, which focuses on providing a safe dating&support community for those living

  with herpes,hpv, hiv/aids or other STDs. Most of the people should know that oral herpes could be transmitted by mouth skin, but few of people know it could be transmitted by hookah pipe.

• March 12, 2008

  5:14 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Pagen writes:

  Also what they don't say is mouth herpies is your cold sores that 80% of the population gets. Most people already have it in their system. If you keep the hookah clean then that should take care of that problem. They are starting to go after cigar bars and hookahs now. They are looking for anything to stop smoking in them. The biggest reason why hookah bars are still there is because if they wouldn't have allowed them to continue they would have closed, and the government does not want to admit that their ban is closing businesses, in other words "legislated out of business"! Which, by the way they have done to at least 70 bars, it just took longer than it would a hookah bar.
  Maybe if they wouldn't have brought in a smoking ban then the students would be doing other things than sitting in a hookah bar. It is the one place they can smoke in peace. After all these students are of adult age.

• March 12, 2008

  6:26 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Froward69 writes:

  Mouth herpes = Clod sores.

  social conservatives would have you believe everything is bad for you except what pads their stock options.

• March 12, 2008

  7:02 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Gene writes:

  Another incomplete story. How could one not document a hookah bar in Boulder?

• March 12, 2008

  8:08 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  DahmersCookbook writes:

  A great bar that still smokes is the Celtic 1801 Blake Street, www.celtictavern.com . The place is very large, great drinks, ambiance and its Irish. This weekend would be A good time to stop in and toss some green beer on the tonsils. I will visit the British Bulldog 2052 Stout Street, www.britishbulldogdenver.com before I travel further on Broadway to Habibi Hookah for A good smoke. PARTY ON WAYNE!

• March 12, 2008

  8:52 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  alcambell_9 writes:

  Zealots won't stop until they remove any kind of smoking anywhere on the face of the planet. You need to ask a question: If and when they get that done, what are they going to go after next? Or do you really believe these type of social engineering nazis will stop at smoking. If you do you're delusional and have no understanding that their zealousness won't allow them to stop until you are regulated into submission to accept tyrannical government rule over every aspect of your life.

• March 12, 2008

  10:14 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  wow writes:

  Thanks Dahmer---I will check them out...How did they get around the ban?

• March 12, 2008

  11:03 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  DahmersCookbook writes:

  92nd. Tavern at the intersection of 92nd. & Wadsworth (North of Denver) is A fun biker dive, busts at the seams on Fri. & Sat. Since the ban their business has skyrocketed! You can bring food from the Wing Stop next door , don't forget your smokes.

• March 12, 2008

  11:12 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Illegallydead writes:

  You know what, something has got to kill you at some point. And I doubt it will be "mouth herpes". As for the "worse than cigarettes" part, I know from having smoked hookah at many occasions, that it doesn't feel nearly as bad as cigarettes. I know this is not very empirical, but after a night of smoking cigarettes, I cannot breath very well when doing my normal outdoor activities like skiing. However, after a night of hookah, it is not nearly as bad. And yes, the water filtration does do more than nothing or a basic filter.
  Also, from experience, I have shared drinks/meals/pipes/bongs etc. for many years with many people with no consequences. You just have to be smart about it, like everything else, and stop using one study to justify the demonification of an activity. That sounds scarily close to the U.S's drug policies.
  (What? One study shows that MDMA eats holes in the brain, even though it was way too small to be conclusive and they used Meth instead of MDMA? Lets make it illegal! The young people are enjoying themselves and congregating! God forbid!)

• March 12, 2008

  12:14 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  TheDenverB writes:

  as much as you may bitch about the smoking ban, it certainly is nicer in bars.

• March 12, 2008

  12:45 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Froward69 writes:

  Funny, TheDenverB those that still allow smoking haven't seen you therein? the smoking Nazis haven't turned anyone in lately. As they do not go to "Those" establishments like they claimed they did!
  Define "Nicer"...

• March 12, 2008

  12:49 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  TheDenverB writes:

  nicer means i dno't smell like crap when i leave the bar. and i enjoy having a smoke when i drink.

  and i've been to the celtic since the ban and it's miserable in there. it seems everybody who can't deal with not having a camel with their coors ends up there.

  i avoid it like the plauge (of course, i did before the ban as well mostly due to the obnoxious crowd)

  and the "smoking nazis" have written plenty of tickets. Sanchos on colfax, for example, has seen plenty of folks get ticketed for not being 15 feet from the doors.

• March 12, 2008

  6:10 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Pagen writes:

  Those bars that you are talking about are "cigar bars" which will be the subject of target come next Jan. in the legislature. If you enjoy your "smoking bars" then you need to fight for them. The antis won't stop till you can't smoke anywhere. If someone gets a ticket for smoking be smart and plead not guilty and ask for a jury. It probably won't go that far and they will throw it out coz they don't know what to do with it and they don't want to deal with it.

• March 25, 2008

  2:13 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  nicolexue writes:

  Get inside your partner's mind tips are found at stdromance