Hookah Bars
Trendy smoke parlors attract crowds
Rita Kasha
Mesa Legend
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Photo illustration Rebecca Straughmatt Mesa Legend |
| Sarah Gorman (top left) and Lisette Quintana imbibe smoke from a water pipe as Sammy Mustafa prepares coffee for customers. |
College students are suddenly spending their Friday and Saturday nights smoking hookahs at a local hookah bar. Hookahs, also known as Nargilas, have become the latest craze for students everywhere, especially on the west coast.
A hookah is a pipe with long, flexible hoses, which are connected to a water pipe. The famous hookah roots from ancient Arabia and didn’t become popular in the states until the 20 century. The hookah has been around for centuries in places suck as Turkey, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Iraq. Now, hookahs aren’t only available in the Middle East, but are also available in the states.
The average hookah is about two feet tall after it is assembled and can range in cost from $75 to $250.
There are tons of bars to try out in Tempe, like Red Sea Café, King Tut Café, Urban Café, and Oasis Café. These are just some of the few popular Hookah Bars in Arizona.
When entering a hookah bar a person can expect great entertainment. Belly dancers, Arabic music, comfy pillows, the aroma of the smoke, and backgammon, are some of the types of entertainment that isn’t available anywhere else.
Assil Yokahana, 26, said, “It’s a lot of fun; you can gather your friends, have some drinks, eat food, and smoke some hookah. It’s a fun and laid back atmosphere. You can smoke hookah, listen to music, and the smell of the hookah is very soothing, like incense.” Matt McInnis, 19, disagrees with Yokahana, “I prefer to own one and chill at my place with my close friends and smoke some hookah. It’s more private and you get to do what you want.”
Students 18 and over are being introduced to a new culture in such an entertaining and fun way.
Being exposed for the first time to the “bong look-alike” might come to a shock at first. But the hookah is only used for shisha, flavored tobacco, and not marijuana, at these local bars. You can expect to find flavors such as cola, pomegranate, melon, lemon, strawberry, margarita, and the famous double apple.
The hookah has been a way for students to get their mind off of other illegal drugs and into something more legal, fun and safer. But hookahs are also thought to be safer then cigarettes and less addictive, but there is no truth to that. Hookahs are just as harmful because, instead of a filter, the hookah is a water filter and inhaling large amounts of tobacco has the same effects. Hookahs can also be harmful because people tend to keep the smoke in longer and it contains the same amount of carcinogens and tar as cigarettes.
Some colleges do not allow this “bong look-alike” in any of the dorms or campuses claiming that the hookah is drug paraphernalia.
Police officers are aware of students replacing the tobacco with marijuana. But as long as these students are just using flavored tobacco, police officers have no probable reason for arresting users.
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