Smoking!

[bubblez]

Hi all!

Ok, please exuse a new hookah smoker, but i have a question that surfing the net just have not been able to awnser satisfactory. i have been a cigarette smoker for the last 15 years, and have now decided to stop the habit. Now I have got the hookah, and according to the packaging there is only o.5% nicotine in the tobacco ( Per KG?), plus no tar. Brilliant, right? So can i then smoke the hookah and still tell myself that I have stopped nicotine smoking? Or am I just replacing one with the other. The Idea is to smoke the hookah in order to quit smoking cigarettes/nicotine. Does this make sense? Quitting smoking by smoking something else? I Lite the hookah 4 times a day at the moment. But have not touched a cigarette since day before yesterday.

[vin13]

I have no doubts that hookah is an unhealthy habit and realize it hurts my body in some way or another but I would never believe that hookah is as harmful as smoking cigs. Hookah is just about relaxing with some friends and taking your time. If it helps kick a cig habbit then go for it. GL

- edit: trying to re-read what I posted gave me a headache... Edited August 1, 2008 by vin13

[fineout]

id try to cut the amount of bowls a day down if you want to convince yourself that youre doing something good for your health.

[bubblez]

Yeah, but is 0.5% per kg really little enough to get to a large extent rid of nicotine addiction, or just replacing? The average cigarette pack says o.8% for example, but is that per pack, per cigarette or per kg? If per kg, it would mean it holds the same nicotine levels and I am just fooling myself.

[OC4111]

the percentage is going to be the same whether it's a kilo or a 25g bowl. So if you smoke 4 bowls then .5% of those bowls contained nicotine. If you smoke just one bowl then .5% of that bowl contained nicotine.

[bubblez]

Ok, so tell me if I understand it correctly. If I were to smoke 4 bowls a day, each containing 0.5% nicotine, and smoke 4 cigarettes for the day(assuming the cigarette pack also says 0.5%) it would come down to the same thing? If I were to follow that assumtion, then cigarettes with only 0.1% nicotine would the be better as far as getting rid of a nicotine addiction goes? I have been using the Afzal peach flavour in the hookah.

[bubblez]

Do you think anyone can actually quit smoking cigarettes using the hookah?

[mattarios2]

the percentage is going to be the same whether it's a kilo or a 25g bowl. So if you smoke 4 bowls then .5% of those bowls contained nicotine. If you smoke just one bowl then .5% of that bowl contained nicotine.

OC is right, if you pack a bowl .5 percent of that bowl is nicotine. In cigarettes it ranges from 2-10% roughly is nicotine out of the entire cig which is .9-1g of tobacco. There is usually about 10mg of nicotine in a cig, but the user doesn't take in all of it maybe 2-3mg's. So with hookah it is alot more smoke, and less nicotine.

Figure 1g of tobacco in a cig and 2-10% is nicotine
Every gram of shisha holds .5% nicotine.

If you are just looking at the technical stuff and amount of nicotine per gram, cigs have way more, but none the less you are still taking in nicotine with hookah.

[ryno]

Do you think anyone can actually quit smoking cigarettes using the hookah?

I did, but keep in mind I wasnt a heavy smoker... Maybe a pack a week, a little more on weekends. Don't think so much about the nicotine, but the ingredients. Can you tell me what all you are smoking in a cig? The shisha has ingredients right on the side

[TBatcho07]

Bubble,maybe this will help you out bud.When me and my friends smoke hookah,their cravings for cigerettes die out.Hookah is healthier but not over-all healthy in the long run.Like the HF members have stated,it's all about relaxing with some good friends and just having a memorable time man.You will be fine,just don't smoke 250 grams + a day lol

And if you have any further questions please don't hesitate to ask,that's why we are here,to help those who need answer's to their question's.

[kitefanatic]

IMHO it's not the nicotine that you are actually addicted to in the cigarettes, it's all of the additional chemicals that they add to keep you hooked.

There is nicotine in hookahs, cigars, and tobacco pipes, but none of those smokers would be considered addicts. There is no craving associated with those kinds of 'pure' tobacco smoking.

I mean if it were really just the nicotine, everyone could just slap on a patch, or chew some gum, and the whole world could quit. Anyone who's tried could tell you that it just isn't that easy.

[mattarios2]

IMHO it's not the nicotine that you are actually addicted to in the cigarettes, it's all of the additional chemicals that they add to keep you hooked.

There is nicotine in hookahs, cigars, and tobacco pipes, but none of those smokers would be considered addicts. There is no craving associated with those kinds of 'pure' tobacco smoking.

I mean if it were really just the nicotine, everyone could just slap on a patch, or chew some gum, and the whole world could quit. Anyone who's tried could tell you that it just isn't that easy.

very good point man.

[TBatcho07]

Agree completely!

[hookah hippie]

Do you think anyone can actually quit smoking cigarettes using the hookah?

I have seen it done

[MAJIKVEGGIE]

Allot of people quit smoking cigarettes by switching to another tobacco product, my father switched from cigarettes to cigars & I switched from cigarettes to a pipe. I want to switch to hookah exclusively but I love my briar. Cigarettes are the worst you can feel the difference in your lungs when you smoke them.

[Codename067]

Do you think anyone can actually quit smoking cigarettes using the hookah?

Where is the "wrong" in that?

That is very much possible..its IS a better alternative man..

[BadgerBadger]

I'll start with some quickly gathered data. If your shisha is 0.5% nicotine, every 50 grams you smoke has 250 mg of nicotine. The average cigarette has around 17-21 mg of nicotine (I googled this and went with what I found from some random source that looked trustworthy).

It really depends on how many packs you smoked a day I would say. At 4 bowls a day, you are getting quite a bit of nicotine with the hookah. I would also keep in mind that you do not always burn all the shisha in a bowl, but you more than likely do smoke your cigarette down to the butt. However, I would also agree with what other people said. The other chemicals in cigarettes could not help your addiction any.

[mattarios2]

I'll start with some quickly gathered data. If your shisha is 0.5% nicotine, every 50 grams you smoke has 250 mg of nicotine. The average cigarette has around 17-21 mg of nicotine (I googled this and went with what I found from some random source that looked trustworthy).

It really depends on how many packs you smoked a day I would say. At 4 bowls a day, you are getting quite a bit of nicotine with the hookah. I would also keep in mind that you do not always burn all the shisha in a bowl, but you more than likely do smoke your cigarette down to the butt. However, I would also agree with what other people said. The other chemicals in cigarettes could not help your addiction any.

say I pack 30 grams in my small phunnel, and me and 2 other people smoke for 1 round of coals which is about 1 hour and 20 min. there is usually about 20 grams still good. So 10 grams would equal 50mg of nicotine between 3 people that's 16.6mg of nicotine which is less than 1 cig in terms of nicotine.

1 hour 20 min of hookah = 16.6mg of nicotine

1 cigarette that lasts 5 min and the next morning 1 hour of sore lungs = 17-21mg of nicotine plus 500+ chemicals added

conclusion : stick with hookah if you are going to smoke.

[j3oomerang]

4 bowls a day is way too much. at that rate you are addicted to shisha. Yes it is a better alternative (depending on how many cigs you smoke a day). as time goes on, focus and doing fewer bowls per day until you can get to once a week or less. But yeah, at 4 bowls a day, you havent quit anything.

[mattarios2]

4 bowls a day is way too much. at that rate you are addicted to shisha. Yes it is a better alternative (depending on how many cigs you smoke a day). as time goes on, focus and doing fewer bowls per day until you can get to once a week or less. But yeah, at 4 bowls a day, you havent quit anything.

agreed, 4 bowls a day is alot. I smoke one bowl a day and after an hour and 20 min there is still 80% of the shisha left. Granted I am using a phunnel bowl, but still, I only smoke prob 8-10 grams a day if you do the math.

[bubblez]

Ok!, monday came, and I have not touched a cigarette. Have not been able to cut down on the 4 bowls a day yet, but then again, I have been a 20 - 30 a day cigarette smoker. Only thing is, I have been getting this dull headache since I quit the cigarettes and started the hookah. Just wondering if that would be from the withdrawel of the chemicals in the cigarettes, because from what I understand, it is not the withdrawel of nicotine, or is it a normal result from smoking the hookah (too Much!) Does anyone else get a headache (more of a dull feeling) from hookah?

[Canon]

what tobacco are you smoking and coals? some types of tobbacco give me a headache. you should try fusion, never had a problem with that type

[bubblez]

currently ""afzal"" strawberry, peach and mixed fruit. the coal is "excelsior".

[ronald_dooley]

I strongly feel that smoking hookah is much healthier (or less unhealthy, whatever) than smoking cigarettes for a number of reasons:

1. When you smoke cigarettes, you combust and burn paper and tobacco, releasing all the very harmful carcinogens. With hookah, you never combust the shisha.

2. I smoked a pack and a half a day before I quit smoking ciggies. There is simply no doubt in my mind that shisha is better for you (or less bad, however you want to put it). My teeth used to be stained brown one month after each dental cleaning. Since I quit smoking ciggies, that's no longer the case, but I smoke a bowl of shisha a day. There is no way that shisha is tarring up my mouth, teeth, throat, and lungs the way that ciggies did. No stupid WHO report will convince me otherwise. I have my own evidence and it's called my BODY and what it does and how it works.

3. When I quit smoking ciggies, I told myself that I get a compromise: no more ciggies, but I can smoke shisha whenever I want. This works because smoking one bowl of shisha takes a few hours anyway... and you can't take your hookah everywhere with you, so you smoke less, anyway.


So in short... if you choose to smoke shisha, you are taking a risk that you know about... maybe it's nothing or maybe the WHO report is right. I doubt it. But if you smoke ciggies, you KNOW you will prolly die of cancer if you don't quit.

[pigpen]

I don't know who came up with the idea that "it's the chemicals you are addicted to, not the nicotine" idea. But frankly that is a load of crap.

Nicotine alters how the brain is wired on a physical level. Google it. In fact, it is so efficient at re-wiring the brain that it is considered MORE addictive than NHT. This isnt opinion - its fact. Studied, published and well understood.

The tobacco industry knows this and alters the natural level of nicotine in cigarettes to keep people addicted. As late as 2006 studies showed that cigarettes had more nicotine than they did in the 10 years prior.

The fact is - your shisha has added chemicals too. Read any box and you will see "artificial flavor". Those flavors are made of chemcials.

Written scientifically all tobacco products read like a chemists shopping list.
Here is one ingredient used to create plum and peach flavors: alpha-Dimethylphenylethyl acetate. That is only ONE of many different chemicals that create ONE flavor. It is used to impart a "green" or fresh taste.

The reason these ingredients are not on the box is that the law states that small percentages of ingredients do not have to be disclosed as long as they only make up less than 2% of the total ingredients.

Also -the idea that cigars and pipes are not addictive is total bull. I am suprised anyone would even consider that they are different. Nicotine is nicotine.

We don't hear about them so much becacuse cigarettes are the more prevelent form of addiction in our society.

I dont want to say anything mean because you guys have all been pretty great on this forum. But your ideas on this one are so far off reality you may as well be speculating about the little cheese men who live on the moon.