Hookahs For Sale: Used and New

A strange looking apparatus has sprung up at my house and taken residence...and it looks suspiciously close to what we used to call a "bong" back in the 70's. My daughter however bought this Hookah for sale at a specialty store down the street (2010) - to smoke tobacco out of. I have to admit, it's a beautiful piece of artwork. The aroma that comes forth is also amazingly nice (it smells like blueberry wafting through the house) but I have to wonder... how did this throwback from the 70's show up again?

In my sleuthing I found that Hookahs for sale and smoking from a Hookah have apparently become a new mainstream form of "entertainment" for mostly the younger generation. The practice however is not new - Hookahs have been around for 500 years or so. Smoking from a Hookah has been practiced among many cultures and for various reasons. For some it's a form of "social bonding" and/or a pleasant way to relax and unwind.

Hookah (Wiki definition)

"The exact time and place where the hookah originated from is not known. According to Cyril Elgood (PP.41, 110) who does not mention his source, it was in India where Hakim Abu’l-Fatḥ Gīlānī (d. 1588), an Iranian physician at the court of the Mughal emperor Akbar I (1542 - 1605 AD) invented the idea. ^{[15] [16] [17]} Following the European introduction of tobacco to India, Hakim Abul Fateh Gilani a descendant of Abdul-Qadir Gilani came from Gilan a province in the north of Iran to India who was later a physician in the court of Mughal raised concerns after smoking tobacco became popular among Indian noblemen, and subsequently envisaged a system which allowed smoke to be passed through water in order to be 'purified'. ^[15]"

Interestingly enough, I did not realize that the practice of Hookah was as popular as it was until local "Hookah Bars" started springing up in our area. At least 3 Hookah lounges have sprung up within a mile of our house within the last year. The reason my daughter bought her own hookah was to save money (instead of going to lounges) and to share her hookah with her friends (they use this instead of smoking cigarettes) She also interestingly enough also "quit" smoking cigarettes recently...hmmm...

Which brings us to another question...is using a Hookah healthy? Some reports say it's worse than cigarette smoking, while some reports say that results are "inconclusive" as to whether Hookah is less dangerous than regular cigarette smoking. I have tried it a couple times, found it mildly pleasant but I did not feel compelled to go out and "smoke" from it. Perhaps for me it's a little too close to doing something that was illegal along long time ago (which I no longer do btw ) Judging however by the number of people socializing with my daughter on the porch with her hookah, there are lot of younger adults that have not only embraced the hookah but have found a new type of "social bonding" by passing the pipe.

Do I advocate smoking from a Hooka? There are the potential health risks. I think the pipes are beautiful, I think the idea of using the Hookah to smoke tobacco in is better than using it to do illegal drugs, the social connectedness they experience is intriguing...

but then so is having a family get together at the park... .

So if my daughter gets tired of her new fad, anybody want to buy a Hookah for sale?

(Dorsi Diaz is a freelance writer/publisher who writes about a variety of topics including kids, the political climate, controversial subjects and talks with God. To follow her please fan/friend her and subscribe to her RSS feed so you will be notified of her upcoming articles. Thanks for reading and feel free to leave comments below)