Ammar Zirli, right, puffs on a hookah along with friends Yussef Assaf, center, and Hassan Soueid in Florida. (MCT)
Every Friday night, Alexis Newell leaves her South Miami, Fla., home for Miami Beach, where she plops down on cushioned outdoor seats and orders a beer and a hookah, a long, ornate water pipe. Usually joined by friends, her group lounges for hours, passing the fruity smoke-exuding pipe around, munching on falafel between puffs.

"It's chill, laid-back," said 30-year-old Newell, who works in marketing. "It's a way to relax ...."

The hookah - also called "shisha" - has become increasingly popular among teenagers, college students and even young professionals. It's found a niche as an alternative to bars and clubs for those younger than 21 - hookah smokers have to be 18 - as well as for people like Newell, who prefer a more relaxed

Tamar Sherman, 22, co-owner of Oasis Café in Coconut Grove, Fla., lights a coal for a customer to use in a hookah. The hookah is gaining popularity among teenagers, college students and young professionals. (MCT)
vibe on weekends.

While hookahs vary in size and extravagance, they're generally set up the same way, with a glass, water-filled base connected to an upright pipe topped with a bowl. The bowl holds the "maassel," tobacco soaked in a mix of molasses, semidried fruit and honey with artificial flavoring. On top of it is a lump of hot coal. A flexible tube connects to the water bowl and the user sucks in smoke that's cooled by the liquid, producing a smooth taste that doesn't feel as rough as that of a cigarette. Some users think that means it's healthier, but doctors disagree.

"There's no evidence that it's safer to smoke a hookah than to smoke cigarettes," said David Brown, an assistant research professor at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

Originally from India and made of a hollowed coconut, the hookah spread via trade and conquest through South Asia and the Middle East. In the '60s, it was a head shop staple for marijuana smokers, but the hookah's latest incarnation as a tobacco device is closer to its origin.

They're found in restaurants, cafés and lounges that usually offer ethnic fare. Some sell alcohol, too.

Thomas Eissenberg, a researcher at the Institute for Drug and Alcohol Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, spent five years study ing the effects of hookah, which he says are the same or worse than cigarettes.

"Water pipe smokers are inhaling charcoal smoke, plus tobacco smoke," Eissenberg said. "On average, water pipe users produce 100 times the amount of smoke in a single water pipe use episode compared to a single cigarette."

Yet, some business owners are catching on to health concerns. Off the Hookah in Fort Lauderdale, offers a tobacco-free, herbal-based maassel.

"It's becoming popular because some people want to stay away from tobacco," owner Ehab Atallah said.

- JAWEED KALEEM, MCT

Before you puff


While many users think hookahs are safer than cigarettes, doctors say they are not. The tobacco in maassel contains nicotine, which is addictive. There are also higher amounts of arsenic and lead in hookah smoke than in cigarettes.

Hookah spots

A few hookah lounges close to the area are:

 The Citadel, 17 S. 2nd St., Harrisburg (234-7011)

 The Pillar Lounge, 125 Morgantown Road, Reading (610-780-0452

 Ice Hookah Lounge, 508 York Road, Towson (888-9-HOOKAH)

Source: www.hookah-hookah.com

About hookahs


 Usually, one hookah can be shared by up to four people. Use a plastic mouthpiece, which most lounges provide, to avoid catching germs from the pipe.

 Hookah smokers must be at least 18.

 Maassel, the fruity tobacco smoked in hookahs, comes in dozens of flavors. Popular ones include double apple, mint, mango and strawberry. Some lounges will add milk, juice or alcohol to the water bowl upon request.