The smoke from the growing social trend of Indian origin has reached Spokane in the past few years and is continuing to spread throughout the city.
In Spokane there are six different smoke shops that sell water pipes, which is becoming not only a social activity for smokers but for a number of young adults who are 18 years old, which is the legal age you have to be to purchase one.
“To me, it’s a great way to spend time with people,” said Josh Knight an employee at Peace of Mind. “I don’t know too many people who just smoke hookah by themselves. It’s more of a group kind of thing.”
Peace of mind has seen an increase in sales the past few years when it comes to water pipe sales and flavored tobacco.
“Our sales have gone up and that’s solely because the industry is becoming more recognized,” said Knight.
A hookah works by putting flavored tobacco on the top of the piece where the bowl is located. It is then sealed by a piece of foil with holes in the middle and a lit coal is placed on the top. Inhaling through the hose heats up the coals allowing more smoke to be drawn from the tobacco and to go down the stem, into the water, and out through the hose into the smoker’s mouth.
A common question that comes up when talking about hookah, is if it has the same health hazards as smoking cigarettes.
“Water pipe smoking delivers the addictive drug nicotine and is at least as toxic as cigarette smoke,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website. “Hookah smokers are at risk for the same kinds of diseases as are caused by cigarette smoking.
“Hookah smoking is not a safe alternative to smoking cigarettes.”
But there is an alternative to inhaling all of the toxins when smoking hookah.
“Challenging the traditional ideas of hookah, Shiazo Shisha Steam Stones provide hookah smokers with the same great flavor and thick clouds as average tobacco, minus the health risks associated with smoking,” said a statement on Shiazo Hookah’s website. “Traditional hoo- kah tobacco contains glycerine, mo- lasses, flavoring and tobacco leaves. Shiazo Shisha Steam Stones replaces the tobacco leaf with a 100% natural, extremely pure, raw mineral.
These stones are also sold at Peace of Mind along with the tobacco flavored shisha.
“It’s pretty much the smart smoke of hookah,” said Knight. “It works the same way as flavored tobacco without all of the bad toxins that come with it.”