Soex And Tobacco/nicotine Free Smoke

[Adabeie]

Hey all,

I registered here for this one question and found so much more. First off, thanks for the forum and the philosophizing - I've liked what I've read.

Recently I moved to South Korea and tried smoking nicotine-free hookah at the Hookah Lounge in Apgujeong. "Nicotine free?" I thought. The waiter recommended the nicotine-free 'tobacco,' and since I was with my other non-tobacco smoking friends (we enjoy the occasional hookah but avoid cigarettes, etc), we were in agreement that a trial was in order. We ordered rose, so I cannot comment on the 'reduced-taste' phenomenon I've read about, and in any case, the fruit stuff I find a bit overhwhelming. The flavor was great and I recommend it to anyone who savors subtlety over the tidal-wave of flavor saturation I find in Egyptian tobacco blends, and in addition, after smoking a bowl for about 2 hours on our second coal (maybe we're subpar inhalers) we discovered that we had none of the nicotine jitters regular hookah gives me (my friends are in agreement on this experience). No headache, no inclination to vomit, and feelign much less oxygen-starved than the times we smoked Egyptian tobacco in Seattle.

There's the backdrop. My curiousity is directed at the health aspect. I've heard of heavy metals - but from the pipe itself? The heated element is an inert, baked ceramic bowl, so are the metals in the smoked herbs? I don't see how the limited heat from the smoke would free up the metal in the stem, and the pipes are not metal in the hookahs that I've used (And what if metal parts were replaced with, say, blown glass). Also, I know that smoking something - smoking anything - is a crude and damaging mode of delivery for various reasons; hot smoke in the lungs and carcinogens created from the burning effect. But I am wondering (because I have yet to find anything on the web) if anyone knows of any solid research on nicotine free hookah, or if anyone knows what exactly is in this kind of hookah and what it's effects on the lungs might be when burned. I know I'm not taking vitamins, but I enjoy hookah and, seeing as how the 'pro' forces don't seem to answer the questions I ask and the 'con' forces are all about sensational and demonizing irrationality, I'm looking for something a bit more objective.

Sorry this was so drawn out, but hey, spare no detail. (Oh, next time I'm there I'll look at the box, but I don't know if it was Soex or Black Label b/c I'd never heard of nicotine free shisha before, and are they really the only two brands? Hmm.. But I'll be back w/more info.)

[mgcsinc]

To answer your basic question as to whether there is any research about nicotine-free 'herbal' tobaccos (which are not tobacco at all, btw), the answer is simple: no, there is not any research. I have done a thorough lit review (a real, scientific review covering articles found through typical means - PubMed, etc. - and through references, even covering articles in foreign journals that do not enjoy normal readership/archiving in US universities) and found not one mention of herbal shishas (that I can recall).

There is a basic consensus around here about Soex/Black Label's health effects, and it goes something like this:

1. Nicotine isn't that bad for you.
2. Carcinogens are really bad for you.
3. There is no reason to think (really, honestly, no reason to think) that 'herbal' shishas contain fewer carcinogens than real tobacco shishas.
4. Ergo, there is no reason to think that 'herbal' shishas are really less dangerous for you.

[zeppyrkr]

Smoke is smoke, its bad for you, now if you want to get technical i believe that there is a slight less chance of the herbal stuff to be as bad, not saying its not bad. now i do believe even if you smoke a bowl a day of shisha it doesnt come any where near smoking cigs, until real research is done , the herbal stuff could even be worse, lol

[Calcartman]

Tobacco has been smoked for thousands of years.
At first they didn't know it was bad for you.
Then they figured it out.
Its still bad for you.

Herbal shisha has been around for a shorter time.
They think it's less harmfull than tobacco.

see where im going with this?

I like the feeling of nicotine. If you don't, dont smoke tobacco. But dont for a minute deny that you are killing yourself with every inhalation of smoke you take throughout your life. Edited July 11, 2007 by Calcartman

[MechAnt]

Either way, there are risks involved and smoking hookah is a choice with those in mind

PS: I'm Korean too! I live in Los Angeles

[Sonthert]

It is also possible that the quality of charcoal is affecting your reaction to the tobacco. Very few brands have nicotine in anymore, anyways. At least not more than a tiny amount. Since South Korea is very close to Japan, it would increase the likelihood of using Japanese coals, which may slightly safer and have less carbon monoxide than other coals.