Water Pipe
Smoking tobacco from a water pipe is a popular social
activity that dates back at least 4,000 years. The other ways to smoke
tobacco are cigarettes, cigars, and the pipe.
According to one historical account, the water pipe was invented by
a physician in India as a supposedly less harmful way to smoke tobacco.
This was reportedly based on the theory that passing the smoke through
water first somehow cleanses it and makes it less harmful. There is
no scientific evidence that smoking the water pipe is any less dangerous
than smoking cigarettes – in fact the little science there is
supports the theory that it is far more dangerous.
In the East Mediterranean regions, especially Turkey and Syria, the
water pipe is known as “narghile.” In Egypt and some North
African countries it is known as “shisha” and “goza.”
In India, they call it “hookah.”