Cigarettes get a very bad reputation when it comes to the different forms of smoking. But, they’re not the only ‘guilty party’ involved. They may be the most popular, but other forms are very health damaging, too. Here are some of them.
Hookah or Shisha
This type of smoking comes from Arab countries and is a form of social gathering, of sharing of the ‘pipe’. In English, it is more commonly known as a water pipe and although it is more natural – it only requires water and tobacco in a format similar to chewing tobacco – it is still harmful to one’s health.
The reason why it could be quite dangerous is that you typically smoke quite a lot more. Quantity is less noticeable because the group passes the pipe around (usually using a lemon between each user on the mouthpiece) and the chit chatting makes you forget how many puffs you’ve inhaled. Or, worse – some put wine instead of water in the pipe. You get a major buzz from that. And yes, I would say driving should be forbidden after a wine shisha!
Also, since charcoal is what they use to heat the water (that is how the tobacco makes it through the pipe), you inhale some of that, too.
Cigars
We all know what cigars are, but are they really a better alternative to cigarettes? Actually, it depends on the reason for quitting ciggies in the first place. If you want to avoid chemicals, then yes. However, just one single cigar contains as much tobacco as an entire pack of cigarettes (now I understand why my daddy was favouring them over cigarettes).
Pipes
As per cigars, this form of tobacco has a much smaller quantity of chemicals than cigarettes, but the health risks still exist – they are similar to cigars.
Marijuana
Although this is also another much more natural form of smoking, this carries very different types of health hazards and benefits. The fact that this drug, in itself, is less addictive makes it seem like it could be less harmful. However, the quantity of pesticides used to grow these crops, and the fact that you are still smoking, makes it about as harmful as smoking the equivalent in tobacco. Of course, if you need it for medicinal purposes the hazards aren’t very relevant as they are far outweighed by the advantages brought on by using it. However, there are other ways of ingesting marijuana that are less damaging and much more in line with normal herbal and naturopathic treatments.
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