Hookah can you get addicted

The study also demonstrated that shisha smokers that took part in the study were highly dependent and many smoked cigarettes as well, reducing the effect of the drug.

There are many layers to addiction, neurological and psychological, and one of the things we found in this study is that the social aspect of smoking shisha played a significant role in its appeal. Strong tobacco control policies are needed to break the social norms of shisha smoking alongside conventional medication and counselling. Inconsistent policies for tobacco price and taxation mean that smoking shisha is still fairly cheap for most people.

Shisha smokers may have a better chance of quitting if shisha smoking is less affordable and not served in cafes, bars and restaurants.

An approach, similar to that taken against cigarette smoking, to raise awareness of the risks, particularly with young people, and control its use in public spaces would be a step forward, alongside traditional quitting approaches.

Festival of Social Science — Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire. Edition: Available editions United Kingdom. Become an author Sign up as a reader Sign in. Kamran Siddiqi , University of York. Addictive and harmful In a shisha also known as a waterpipe or hookah , tobacco is burned using charcoal. A common misconception about hookah is that it is not addictive , or at least not as addictive as cigarettes. Many hookah blends are lower in nicotine than cigarettes, but studies have found that users may be getting just as much nicotine as cigarette smokers.

This is because hookah smokers are exposed to more smoke. They tend to sit around the water pipe for longer than 30 minutes at a time, and sometimes for several hours. A daily hookah session of an average length equates to smoking 10 cigarettes a day, enough to get hooked. Some experts also believe that hookah addiction is more complex than simply getting hooked on nicotine. The mix of chemicals in hookah tobacco blends can lead to more complicated addictive behaviors.

The social and relaxing atmosphere around the hookah smoking section can also add a psychological element to the addiction. A user can become dependent on that sense of relaxation at the end of the day and on the social interaction that comes with it. Although studies on hookah smoking are limited, researchers are working to find answers, including how to help people quit.

Much work has been done to try to help cigarette smokers kick the habit. Now, researchers from Washington State University are figuring out how to get hookah users to stop. They are using a technique called motivational incentive. A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Public Health Consequences of E-Cigarettes. International Journal of Dermatology ;—10 [accessed Mar 18]. Nuwayhid, I, Yamout, B.

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