I am writing to express my concern over the growing hookah smoking trend among youth in The practice of smoking tobacco through water-pipes, called hookahs, emerged centuries ago in the Middle East.  But recently hookahs have become as popular in parts of Colorado as they are in Cairo.  There are currently over a dozen establishments in Denver where hookahs can be rented in bars and restaurants, and they are also cheaply available on the internet and in tobacco stores.  Without immediate education about the health risks associated with these water-pipes, JeffersonCounty youth will soon be caught up in this deadly trend.

           Many teens believe, due to the exotic appeal of the hookah and its flavored tobacco, that the smoke from a hookah is somehow safer than that from cigarettes.  This is far from the truth.   The smoke from a hookah contains four times the carbon monoxide and 100 times the lead of a cigarette.  This a toxic mixture of carcinogenic chemicals for the lungs and heart.  Furthermore, the nicotine in hookah smoke is addictive, causing hookahs to be a potential gateway into young people using cigarettes.

            Tobacco currently kills over 400,000 Americans each year, and an astonishing 92,000 Colorado youth alive today will die prematurely from tobacco use.  The informed public must be vigilant against any new tobacco use method or product that comes into vogue.  There is nothing exotic or trendy about premature heart and lung disease.