Waterpipe Use Increasing Among Young North American Males
The good news is that fewer people are puffing on cigarettes. The bad news is these individuals apparently still need something to puff on and are increasingly turning to waterpipes or shishas or hookahs.
A Science Daily release examines this phenomenon among North American youth. A study, conducted by scientists from the University of Montreal, the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec and McGill University, found that nearly 25 percent of young adults in Montreal have used waterpipes.
"The popularity of waterpipes may be due in part to perceptions that they are safer than cigarettes. However, waterpipe smoke contains nicotine, carbon monoxide, carcinogens and may contain greater amounts of tar and heavy metals than cigarette smoke," said senior investigator Jennifer O'Loughlin in Science Daily.
O’Loughlin is a professor at the University of Montreal Department Of Social and Preventive Medicine and a scientist at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Center.
This study was part of a longitudinal cohort investigation of 871 youth, aged 18 to 24. The research determined that 23 percent of respondents had used a waterpipe within the previous 12 month period and 5 percent had used waterpipes one or more times in the previous month.
The device was found to be of particular popularity among young, English-speaking males who lived on their own and had a higher household income. The research team also determined that waterpipe users were more likely to use other psychoactive substances such as cigarettes, marijuana, illicit drugs and alcohol.
