6 things you probably didn't know about shisha

gloria mari

December 28, 2017 5:04 PM

Most Kenyans don't know this about the use of shisha

Former NACADA director John Mututho had been campaigning relentlessly to have the substance banned as has been done in Rwanda.

However, many people don't know about shisha- which is vapourized and flavoured tobacco.

Here are 6 things you may not know about shisha.

Shisha use began in ancient Persia (now Iran) and India

Its popularity has grown worldwide with a lot of use in China, Pakistan, Europe and America. According to studies, at least 1 in every 6 girls in the US uses shisha.

Some experts believe that one shisha session is as bad as smoking 100-200 cigarettes

Smoking shisha is like breathing second hand cigarette smoke through a water pipe. Estimated findings by the World Health Organisation show that, on average, a smoker will inhale half a litre of smoke per cigarette, while a shisha smoker can take in anything from just under a sixth of a litre to a litre of smoke per inhale.

It contains more Carbon Monoxide than cigarettes

This could be due to the fact that hookahs (instruments used to smoke shisha) have no filters. The water in the implement is only for flavour and vapourising the tobacco. It is not a filter.

It contains more harmful agents than cigarettes

Heavy metals like cobalt, and lead can be found in shisha. It may also contain charcoal or wood cinder combustion products from the heat source used to burn the tobacco.

It has countless names

Shisha is also known as hookah, boory, goza, narghile, arghile, and hubble bubble.

It has no healthy alternatives

Because tobacco causes addiction and leads to dependency which leads to increased use which increases chances of cancer- shisha has no healthy alternatives. Some people think that herbal shisha or cigarettes can serve as a suitable alternative but they are just as harmful and cigarettes carry their own dangers.