Hookahs not safer than cigarettes

Moral of the story: Hookahs may actually be worse than cigarettes in exposing people to more heavy metals and nicotine.  Stay away from both, they are bad.

Source: AMA Morning Rounds 5/18/2010

Hookahs, other water pipes mistakenly believed by many to be safer than cigarettes.

The New York Times (5/18, D6, Rabin) reports that after mailing "questionnaires in 2007 and 2008 to 1,208 people ages 18 to 24," researchers in Canada found that "many young people seem to believe that hookahs and other water pipes are safer than cigarettes." According to the authors of the Pediatrics paper, one myth involved young adults thinking that "because the texture is smoother, it is less toxic" and believing that "the water filters out the toxins." But, "that is not at all true," investigator Jennifer O'Loughlin asserted. "In fact, she said, the pipes may expose smokers to higher amounts of nicotine and heavy metals than cigarettes."