Showing posts with label Hookah Hype. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hookah Hype. Show all posts

John Stuart Mill and Hookah Bans

"The only freedom which deserves the name is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it. Each is the proper guardian of his own health, whether bodily, or mental or spiritual. Mankind are greater gainers by suffering each other to live as seems good to themselves, than by compelling each to live as seems good to the rest." --John Stuart Mill, On Liberty

If I couldn't laugh about the irony of it, the latest smoking ban would have me crying. Virginia, a state whose economy depends on the manufacture of tobacco products (tobacco manufacturing is still the state's number one industry), has recently passed a sweeping anti-smoking law that will more than likely put several restaurant and bar owners out of business.


According to the Washington Post, this bi-partisan bill was "hatched in closed-door meetings between Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) and House Speaker William J. Howell (R-Safford)." Although the new law doesn't reach quite as far as some of the more virulent anti-smoking groups wanted, it does go far enough to target places where smoking has been an accepted part of business for generations. With all the secondhand smoke hype that the media has subjected us to, I can't help but wonder why anyone who is genuinely worried about secondhand smoke exposure would continue to work in establishments that permit smoking or, more importantly, why anyone who chooses not to work in an area where smoking is allowed is so concerned about those who do.

John Stuart Mill, in his essay, On Liberty, says it best: "The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not sufficient warrant." In other words, don't try to stop me from smoking hookah in a shop made specifically for that purpose because you think that the secondhand smoke may cause harm to others. An alternative is available: if you don't want to be subjected to secondhand smoke, avoid places of business that permit smoking. Problem solved. Duh!


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On Milton, Censorship, and Hookahs

I've admired John Milton's work for many years. Scholars consider his epic work, Paradise Lost, the greatest poem ever composed in the English language, and I concur; however, it is a piece of his prose that I prefer.

"To sequester out of the world into Atlantic and Utopian polities, which never can be drawn into use, will not mend our condition. . ."

Written in 1644, Areopagitica is a passionate argument against censorship. But much of what Milton has to say about why banning certain books is a bad idea can also be used to argue that the current trend toward smoking bans is equally futile.

The notion that society must be "protected" from harmful things fuels much of the debate on smoking. The same argument is used to challenge books that certain groups of people find offensive. Instead of exercising their right to choose reading materials for themselves and allowing others to do the same, these groups seek to "protect" us from what they perceive to be "harmful." In essence, this means that the rest of us are too stupid to make the "right" choices. Rather than relying on the individual to decide the value of a book, special interest groups want to tell the rest of us which books have "true" worth based upon their value judgments with the underlying assumption being that their values are superior because they are "right." Milton contends, however, that attempting to construct a Utopian paradise where only good exists will not solve the problem and gives us a rational explanation why:

"They are not skilful considerers of human things, who imagine to remove sin by removing the matter of sin . . . Though ye take from a covetous man all his treasure, he has yet one jewel left, yet cannot bereave him of his covetousnes. Banish all objects of lust, shut up all youth into the severest discipline that can be exercised in any hermitage, ye cannot make them chaste that came not thither so; such great care and wisdom is required to the right managing of this point."


Removing an object of desire from society does not make the desire for that object disappear! The Volstead Act, which became the Eighteenth Amendment, is the perfect example to illustrate Milton's argument.

The Prohibition of alcohol in America was sparked by the ardent desire of a handful of women and religious activists who believed that removing the demon alcohol -- the sin in Milton's equation -- would protect and improve American society. Unfortunately, as history proved, removing the object of sin was not enough to solve the problem, for the desire for the object remained. Instead of creating a Utopian paradise free of alcohol and the negative consequences of drinking it, those who successfully pushed for Prohibition created new problems, some of which are still being dealt with nearly 100 years later. Because Prohibition was unenforceable, the attempt to remove alcohol from society caused an alarming increase in crime and increased alcohol consumption instead of bringing it to a complete stop.

Prohibition failed because the desire for alcohol was not removed with the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment. The same holds true for the current smoking bans. Closing hookah bars and banning smoking from places where only adults congregate will not convince people to stop smoking, but it will have a negative effect on the livelihoods of those who must now ban smoking patrons from their establishments! Furthermore, just as Prohibition led to a 516 percent increase in alcohol-related crimes, individuals whose businesses depend on smoking patrons will seek ways to get around the laws in order to keep their businesses afloat. To wit, check out Pipe Ban Is a Pane, France's Smoking Ban Chokes Hookah Bars, or Proposed Tougher Smoking Laws Have Some Richardson Businesses Worried.

Clearly a "skilful considerer of human things," John Milton, a man of the 17th century, had a better understanding of human nature than the lawmakers of the 21st century. The good news is that although the British Parliament did not heed his advice regarding the censorship of books, the Areopagitica played a significant role in our Founding Fathers' understanding of the importance of free speech and press. One can always hope that Milton's influence will still be felt and that "skilful considerer[s] of human things" will come out from behind the smoke screen of political correctness.


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Hookahs and Herpes? WTH?!

I can honestly say that I think now I've heard everything when it comes to the hype surrounding hookah use. It's not bad enough that the powers that be manipulate statistics to suit their agendas, but now they are capitalizing on the fear of STDs to accomplish their goal.

A recent article in the Rocky Mountain News (read the article here) states that "College students who opt for the supposedly safe smoke of a hookah pipe are sucking in the chemical equivalent of dozens of cigarettes and are risking mouth herpes and other diseases, a Colorado State University doctor says." We're all used to hearing the tripe about hookah smoking being more dangerous than cigarettes, and I've posted something on that subject in the past, but to use fear of contracting an STD in order to scare people out of smoking hookah is patently unethical and irresponsible.

"Mouth herpes" is nothing more than a cold sore. The Mayo Clinic reports that "Certain strains of the herpes virus cause cold sores. Herpes simplex virus type 1 usually causes cold sores." While it is true that a strain of herpes causes cold sores, it is a different one that triggers the STD known as genital herpes. The herpes virus also causes chickenpox, shingles, various types of cancer, and encephalitis. Without clarifying this matter in the article, both the doctor and the writer who quoted her display a profound lack of ethics and responsibility to the general public. Instead, both chose to play on the fact that when most people hear herpes, they automatically assume the worst -- the genital type.

Since "shared eating utensils, razors and towels may spread this infection" (Mayo Clinic), why didn't the physician or writer caution the public from eating in restaurants, using towels in a hotel, or getting a shave at the local barbershop? Are they making assumptions that college students don't engage in these activities at all, or do they mean to imply that hookah smoking is the only method by which this "mouth herpes" is contracted? In either case, it strikes me as little more than a blatant attempt to scare young people enough that they will stop smoking hookah. After all, nobody wants the social stigma associated with herpes.

Anyone who has been to a hookah bar can attest to the fact that each smoker is given a disposable mouth tip to use. Smokers can take these tips with them or toss them out before leaving, so the likelihood that they are being reused is minute. The fear of getting a used tip can be remedied by bringing your own to the bar. You won't have to worry about catching herpes from yourself.

It's about time that the medical community weighed in on the issue of hookah usage a little more responsibly than they have in the past. Yes, the hookah is a smoking device. Yes, people enjoy tobacco in it. Yes, tobacco is a known carcinogen. But to inflate statistics to suit an agenda and rustle up scare tactics by blaming hookah use for incidents of herpes is not the way to examine a problem through the scientific lens. And those who engage in this behavior ought to be hanging their collective heads in shame.


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Fight the Hookah Hype!

Fear mongers have had plenty to say since the hookah craze hit the United States. With carefully worded headlines intended to provoke widespread fear, the alarmist media has been hard at work spreading as much misinformation about the hookah culture as possible. Call me a cock-eyed optimist, but I prefer to think that the hype is a direct result of ignorance. And since ignorance propagates fear, it's time to expose the hookah hype.

"Smoking hookah for one hour is the equivalent of smoking 100 cigarettes!"

Several published studies have jumped on the bandwagon behind this claim, although the number of cigarettes varies from one article to the next. How can this be? Simply put, the stats are false. Not long after the WHO (World Health Organisation) published, in 2005, its "Advisory Note" claiming that hookah smoking poses an international health threat, the hype began in earnest. Despite the glaring errors in WHO's "study," not a single responsible journalist who used the information from the article did his or her homework by investigating the claims the authors of the study had made. When did the folks who work for WHO become infallible? Not only is their study faulty but worse yet, the pseudo-scientists who conducted the research didn't bother to use the correct terminology which resulted in the spread of false information!

Make no mistake about it, smoking can be dangerous to your health; I am not about to claim otherwise. However, when a group as influential as WHO doesn't know the difference between tambak (raw tobacco) and ma'assel (sweetened flavored tobacco) even when making claims about the dangers of smoking hookah, Houston, we have a problem! It is deceitful to equate tar levels in ma'assel and cigarettes because (1) they are two different types of processed tobacco and (2) the tobacco is burned and consumed via different methods.

Whereas cigarette tobacco is deliberately processed with chemicals designed to create an addiction, ma'assel is not. Ma'assel is natural tobacco soaked in glycerol and flavors making it, by volume, 60%-70% tobacco depending on the manufacturer. Cigarette smokers burn the tobacco -- along with all the crap that tobacco companies add to it -- directly, but any true hookah enthusiast knows that burning ma'assel leads to a most unpleasant smoking experience and seeks to avoid this at all costs! Ma'assel, because of the moisture that the glycerol and flavors provide, is actually vaporized in the smoking process; the tobacco is not burned but rather, heated at a significantly lower temperature than that required to burn to tobacco in a cigarette.

Cigarette smokers carry their addiction with them wherever they go and can light up in a matter of seconds. Hookah smokers, on the other hand, don't have the luxury of lighting up anywhere, anytime and most wouldn't even if they could. In fact, most hookah smokers still follow the etiquette of the Middle East where hookah smoking is an activity meant to be enjoyed in a relaxing, social environment among the company of friends. While cigarette smokers puff continuously to feed their addiction, hookah smokers take a puff or two before passing the hose off to a buddy. The study that claims 1 hour of hookah smoking is equal to smoking 100 cigarettes is faulty for a variety of reasons.

The average hookah smoker enjoys the pipe far less frequently than the average cigarette smoker fills his ashtray with butts, so why the fear-mongering about the hookah? Could it be that people are afraid of the hookah because it is a non-Western device? Maybe there's a grand conspiracy at work here. . .

For more on the misinformation about hookahs, I recommend taking a look at the Observatory on Hookah and Health blog. The author does a great job of debunking several myths associated with the hookah.


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Cultural Device vs. Drug Paraphernalia

The funniest thing happened at our warehouse today! A very nice young man who bought a hookah from us on Friday came in looking rather flustered. Since Ali was busy preparing a huge order for a wholesaler, I went to the showroom to greet the poor fellow. It turns out that he needed a replacement glass because his was already broken. When I asked him what happened, especially because he hadn't had the hookah very long, the guy tells me that he and group of friends spent the weekend at another friend's beach house. He took his brand new hookah with him to share with his buds. The guys had a great time on Saturday night mixing different shisha flavors with each bowl and judging who had come up with the best mix. All was great until early Sunday morning when our customer was awakened to the sound of shattering glass. Thinking that a robbery was underway, the guys all jumped out of bed and went running in various directions through the house. Imagine our customer's surprise when he dashed into the kitchen and found his friend's mother with a hammer in her hand and his hookah smashed to smithereens! Turns out the mom thought that her son and his buddies were using drugs in that thar hookah and wanted to let them all know that she wasn't going to tolerate it, especially in her home. Feeling rather embarrassed when the guys explained all about the hookah, the mom gave our cusstomer money to replace the one she destroyed.

All's well that ends well, I suppose. . .

But still, I am left wondering how many people still have that 60's mentality about the hookah? I'm not so silly as to think that there aren't people who use the hookah for substances other than what it was intended for, but surely those folks aren't dumb enough to drag a 32" pipe with them from house to house while they party, right? And hello, from what I remember of my younger days, pot and shisha have vastly different aromas! Since when was the last time you smelled pina colada flavored marijuana, LOL?!


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