Pitt study shows more than 40 percent of college kids use hookahs
University of Pittsburgh students weren't surprised that a study found more than two in five college students have smoked tobacco from water pipes, or hookahs.
"That doesn't sound like an unlikely statistic," said Rob Davide, 18, a Pitt freshman who said he hasn't tried a hookah. "It could even be higher."
Just over 40 percent of the 647 undergraduate and graduate students at a large, undisclosed U.S. university who were surveyed by Pitt's School of Medicine reported having smoked tobacco from a water pipe. That's about a half-percent higher than those who said they had smoked cigarettes.
Of those who tried water pipes, at least a third would have otherwise been tobacco free, the study found.
"Clearly, young people believe hookah smoking is somehow different than smoking cigarettes, but water-pipe smoke has many of the same chemicals as cigarette smoke and likely poses many of the same health risks," said Dr. Brian Primack, assistant professor of medicine and pediatrics at Pitt and lead author of study, said in a news release.
A water pipe is used to inhale tobacco that usually is flavored and sweetened. According to the researchers, more than 200 water-pipe cafes have opened in the United States in the past decade.
Pittsburgh has at least four hookah bars. The Sphinx Cafe on East Carson Street in the South Side opened in August 2004. Sphinx opened a location on Atwood Street in Oakland in April 2006. The Hkan Hookah Bar and Lounge on East Carson Street opened in July 2004. And Hookah Bookah, also on East Carson Street, opened in June 2007.
Sarah Carr, 19, a Pitt sophomore, said Sphinx Cafe in Oakland always is packed with college students.
That's where she went before she bought her first water pipe last spring. She said she tried smoking from hookahs before she starting smoking cigarettes, but she doesn't think one led to the other.
"I don't think there's a strong correlation," Carr said. "A lot of people don't inhale when they smoke. They just go to enjoy the atmosphere."
Michael Stanis, 18, a Pitt freshman, said he probably would have tried a hookah even if he didn't smoke cigarettes.
"I had some friends who tried it, and they said it was pretty cool," he said. "It's a nice way to relax."
Davide has never smoked -- either from a hookah or cigarettes. But he admitted he eventually might try a hookah.
Primack said that water-pipe smoking could become even more popular as smoking bans take effect.
Pennsylvania's ban goes into effect Sept. 11, but it exempts water-pipe cafes that file for and are granted an exception because the majority of their sales are tobacco related.
