Bhopal: If you believe nicotine and tobacco free hookah is harmless, think twice

Bhopal(Madhya Pradesh): Hookah smoke billowing on the tables of lounges and cafes has yet again emerged as a ubiquitous sight in Bhopal, as the Madhya Pradesh high court stayed the order issued by Bhopal collector to ban hookah lounges across the district earlier this month.

While on one hand, the hookah lounge operators of Bhopal claim to have introduced nicotine and tobacco-free hookah flavours at cafes, the doctors of the state capital have flagged caution for hookah smokers, in light of soaring cases of respiratory problems owing to long duration hookah puffing.

Talking to the head of respiratory medicine department of Hamidia Hospital, Dr Lokendra Dave, Free Press learnt that on an average, as many as seven to ten cases of youths suffering from respiratory issues are being reported at the hospital on a daily basis.

In majority of the cases, the ailing youths, predominantly possessing a penchant for hookah puffing, have been left with scars on their respiratory health, he further said.

The doctor went on to inform that hookah flavours are heavily laced with tobacco which gravely impact the respiratory organs of an individual, as compared to cigarettes. “Smoking in any form is harmful”, he said.

Shedding light on other threats due to hookah smoking, Dave said that hookah puffing poses red flags for the individual’s cardiovascular health, gives rise to grim psychiatry issues and is also detrimental to their urinary system.

Another city pulmonologist Dr Abrez Saulat also shed light on the reality of nicotine and tobacco-free hookah flavours

The herbal hookah flavours contain prolific quantities of carcinogenic elements such as naphthalene and chrysene, which, coupled with the coal used to ignite , said Saulat talking to Free Press. Hookah, are known to intensify the probability of contracting lung ailments. While wrapping up his statements, Dr Saulat said that the water utilized in setting up hookah is only capable of filtering out the toxic elements just by 5 percent, due to which the tar intake remains almost equivalent to that in usual hookahs that were served earlier.