Moderation

[DarthHookah]

i try to keep my smoking down to a "safe enough" level, and it got me thinking- i dont smoke cigarettes, and cigars only when the occasion arrises. exactly ho wmuch is too much? i dont want to smoke enough to get hooked on nicotine, and i dont want to damage my lungs more than necissary. how often is too often? ohw often do you all smoke? i usually try to do it on weekends....

[mushrat]

[url="http://www.hookahforum.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=3360&KW=often"] http://www.hookahforum.com/forum/forum_pos...asp?TID=3360&am[/url] p;KW=often
ONCE is too often man. Lets face it, you are SMOKING! This isn't piddleing around, you are destroying/damaging cillia in your lungs EVERY time. You are introducing particulate matter into your lung tissue that can cause problems, you're messing with your blood chemistry and your brain chemistry by ingesting a highly potent neurotoxin. You are increasing your chance of dying of lung cancer dramatically. Safer? too often? GET REAL.
That said, being a responsible adult I smoke 2-3 times a week....

[Donkeema]

mushrats spot on, you shouldnt be doing it in the first place if you dont want to damage your lungs. i smoke 3 times a week max. some weeks never.

[DarthHookah]

yikes, i didnt see this coming. i was just asking how often you guys do it, i wasn't expecting such harsh responses.
 
im not even going to try to explain myself- if my simple question could be misconstrued so horribly, then my explanation wont go over well, either.

[Tony]

I smoke daily but I don't inhale. I still  have no trouble
exercising 4 times a week, but I am also not an athlete. I recently
quit boxing after a 6-month stint of trying to get back into heavy
training and had alot of difficulty sparring (of course, I was getting
into the ring with guys half my age, one of which was a pro). It was
most likely due to my fitness level, but also the amount of nicotine in
my body preventing me from getting to high levels of performance.

I think that if you smoke for flavor, as I do, and are not concerned
about taking your physical fitness to an all-time high, you'll be ok.
Just don't try to fix your jones by filling your lungs up, that will
catch up to you.

[MR Bubble]

[quote name='mushrat'][url="http://www.hookahforum.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=3360&KW=often"] http://www.hookahforum.com/forum/forum_pos...asp?TID=3360&am[/url] p;am p;KW=often
ONCE is too often man. Lets face it, you are SMOKING! This isn't piddleing around, you are destroying/damaging cillia in your lungs EVERY time. You are introducing particulate matter into your lung tissue that can cause problems, you're messing with your blood chemistry and your brain chemistry by ingesting a highly potent neurotoxin. You are increasing your chance of dying of lung cancer dramatically. Safer? too often? GET REAL.
That said, being a responsible adult I smoke 2-3 times a week....[/quote]
 
Stop it, Mushrat! You're scaring me!!
MR Bubble

[mushrat]

Darth: sorry to jump on you like that. It's just we get the same question over and over again...how much can I smoke, isn't it ok to smoke, my mom doesn't want me to smoke, tell her its not bad for me cause its a hookah....EVERY time you smoke the hookah, you are hurting yourself. Why try to rationalize it any further. The real question should be of yourself. How much are you willing to hurt yourself because you like to smoke a hookah?
And then there's the 17 year olds smoking 3-4 times a day....not to mention ordering stuff from web sites, thus jepordizing THEIR businesses, because they are NOT supposed to be selling to anyone under 18. You wanna see bans slapped on online Ma'asell sales, keep talking about being 16-17 and getting stuff from our favorite sites...please.
Don't mean to be a downer here folks, but ignorance is NOT bliss, and I should know.
 

[DarthHookah]

its all good, mushrat, i know that it isnt healthy, and i roll my eyes whenever i read a post about how the water "filters" the tobacco, rendering it harmless. i was just asking how often others do it. now i know, 2-3 times a week is about average from what ive read. in any case, i love that blessed smoke

[Lukasa]

I'm a weekend smoker as well, but sometimes in a weekend i will smoke 5 or more bowls within 2 days (friday & saturday).

[EliteHookah.com]

Dude, smoke is smoke but hookahs are far safer than other forms of
tobacco and it is not because it is filtered through water, that just
makes it more pleasant.

I know for a fact that Havana tobacco contains absolutely no tar and
less than .05% nicotine.  This is almost a negligable amount of
nicotine and it would be very difficult to get addicted.

Don't forget that good shisha is only about 30% tobacco anyway, and
it's a lot less tampered with than anything Phillip Morris produces.

Don't get me wrong, smoking hookah is not going to improve your health but at the same time I wouldn't stress out about it.

I smoke about once a day and have not noticed any decreased lung
capacity, coughing, etc.  But if you decide to stop, it's not a
hard habit to kick.

[Sonthert]

Wow! Can you say "Grounds for a lawsuit"? 

[EliteHookah.com]

Gounds for a lawsuit.

That'd be a dumb lawsuit.

[Sonthert]

If you make a claim, you better be able to back it up with evidence, studies or something, just saying "hookahs are safer" won't cut it...thats why we have to deal with the MSA and thats why the cigarette companies got sued "You didn't say smoking was bad! Now we're addicted, dying and want lots of money!"

[DarthHookah]

he's right, elite. saying that smoking a waterpipe is safer than cigarettes is a claim that does need evidence to support it. for one thing- the coals. it even says on the box that burning it produces carbon monoxide. also, .05% of 250 g is about 1.25 g.  in an average cigarette, the nicotine content is about 1 milligram. depending on the amount you use in a bowl (i havent actually measured, but im guessing it is about 1-3 grams... just and uneducated guess). using that number, youre getting about .5 to 1.5 mg of nicotine. obviously, since there is no tar (i would be interested to hear how that comes about) thats one plus... but the presence of the coals really sets it apart.

[Eden]

I have read reviews saying it is safer, some saying it is worse.  And until i see scientific evidince of either im going to go with its fun, so i dont really care.
But on the other hand, i have been around people who smoke cigarettes and people who smoke hookah.  And i do notice a difference in how they affect them.  The hookah  seems to be far less damaging but thats just what ive noticed from observeing friends

[DarthHookah]

i stand corrected. my average bowl is about 6 grams. according to my previous calculations, there is about 3 mg of nicotine per bowl. an average full flavor marlboro cigarette has 1.2 mg, less than half of that of the shisha.
just because it is a small percentage doesnt mean it is a small number- remmeber, 1% of 100 million is still a million.

[Sonthert]

Also, the concept of tar, as Eissenberg pointed out, well indirectly, is pointless in hookah tobacco...technically all that glycerine IS tar making the tar amount much, much larger than any cigarette, because tar is the non-tobacco components. 

[EliteHookah.com]

Darth Hookah,

Your calculations are incorrect.

At .05% nicotine, a 250g jar of tobacco contains .125g of nicotine, not 1.25g.

[cymptom]

[quote name='Tangiers']Also, the concept of tar, as Eissenberg pointed out, well indirectly, is pointless in hookah tobacco...technically all that glycerine IS tar making the tar amount much, much larger than any cigarette, because tar is the non-tobacco components.   [/quote]Technically... but I would think there's still a large difference to be pointed out between vaporized glycerine and burnt tobacco resin. Then again, I know nothing about this

[DarthHookah]

dag nabbit, elite hookah! dont try to fool me with your "decimal point mathematical" hobknobbery! you know what makes it worse, is that you get away with it!

[DarthHookah]

in case you didnt get it- my last post was meant to be humorous

[EliteHookah.com]

I know.  I had myself a good chuckle.

[Oggie505]

I always find it funny when people argue here on how hookah is healthy or not. But for what the topic started from, I personally sometimes smoke like 6 times a day. During finals I was always smoking. Normal I smoke like 2-3 times a day on average. Sometimes I go a few days without smoking. As far as it being addicting, I feel thta it is not. I have been here in DC for over 3 weeks, and have not had any urges or "shakes" to have to have a smoke.

[DarthHookah]

i didnt actually intend to spark a debate, it just kind of evolved. its all in good fun.
6 times a day?did you experience any kind of coughing fits or anything like that? any kind of decline in fitness?

[gunsboy]

I smoke once or twice a day ... it is increasing .. I cough a little more, but who cares I enjoy my life with hookah and coughing more than without-hookah and getting poisoned by cars and factory pollution.