A shisha an hour makes 100 cigarettes

By Anastassiya PASTOUKHOVA

Health inspectors of Astana have launched a campaign against smoking hookah in cafes and restaurants.

Recent studies demonstrated that shishas are 100-fold more harmful than cigarettes.

In our city too, drug therapists are beating alarm on this issue. 

According to local health inspection office, to date none of the cafes and restaurants in Atyrau was audited for content of tobacco or hygienic condition of shishas.

Svetlana Stramoussova, narcologist, says most of shisha smokers believe its smoke is harmless unlike cigarettes. However, shisha tobacco contains much more [2-3 times] nicotine, carbon monoxide and various tars than in cigarettes.

Due to its humidity the smoke stays in lungs for a rather long time. When smoking a cigarette a human in average makes 10-12 inhalations over 4-7 minutes receiving 0.5 liters of smoke in lungs. Shisha is normally smoked over an hour, making 50-100 or even 200 pulls, 0.15-1 liters of smoke each. As a result, a shisha in an hour equals 100 cigarettes.