Middle East water pipe gains local fans

Friday, December 30, 2005 By ANGIE GENT

Jessica Swallen of Hartville and Michael Ataya of Canton exhale smoke while using hookahs at Sahara Grille in Jackson Township. The restaurant rents out the hookahs every night from 5 to 9:30.

It seems like it could be a “What’s wrong with this picture?” drawing: Tall Middle Eastern water pipes among the cigarettes and cigars lining shelves at an area tobacco store.

It’s not such a strange scene these days.

Water pipes, or hookahs, are making their way into shops normally reserved for more standard tobacco fare, and they are popping up in area gift shops and novelty stores. They’re finding a place in nearby homes, and they’re being used to entertain patrons at a local restaurant.

After taking the East Coast and West Coast by storm, it seems the nationwide hookah craze could encircle Stark County like a giant smoke ring.

“It’s picked up so big here, it’s not even funny,” said Chris Beadle, owner of the Beadle Hut Second Chance gift and clothing store. In the past month, Beadle has sold more than two dozen hookahs, which range from $24 to $150.

Quonset Hut has experienced a similar boost.

“I am surprised for the enthusiasm for it,” said owner Mark Kratzer, adding that the business has stocked hookahs off and on for years. “I don’t know why it’s back in style. People saw we had the bigger ones, and they went crazy about them.”

Kratzer said the business had sold about 20 hookahs before the holiday season started.

Steeped in history

It’s no surprise this area is experiencing hookahmania, says Scott Graber, sales manager at the eight-year-old Austin, Texas-based hookah-shisha.com.

The nationwide trend exploded in the last year or so, and it was inevitable that would be reflected here, he said.

“Definitely, it’s spread. We’ve pretty much doubled in size in the past year or so,” he said, adding that college-age buyers and hookah lounges are driving the business. “People in small towns don’t have much else to do than get in on the trend and sit around the hookah.”

Although they are relatively new to America, hookahs — also called narghile, shisha, ghalyoun and hubble-bubble — have been around for about 400 years. Said to have originated in India, hookahs are a central part of life in the Middle East and also have been used in Asia, Africa and Europe.

Hookahs’ ornate metal bodies and snake-like hoses often elicit snickers and surprise from Americans mistaking them for something associated more with drug culture than Middle Eastern culture. That’s mistake No. 1, said Isam Alviq, a native of Jordan and owner of Osi Tobacco on Everhard Road NW in Jackson Township.

“Most people in the beginning see them and think marijuana,” he said of the hookahs in his store. “It has nothing to do with drugs.”

Instead of marijuana, hookahs are used for smoking flavored tobacco mixed with molasses.

The tobacco is packed into a clay bowl atop the hookah and lighted with coals. The smoke is filtered through water in the hookah’s glass vase bottom, cooling it before it is inhaled through a hose or hoses. One smoking session can last for more than an hour.

A tranquil trend

For those bitten by the hookah bug, the pipe’s cool, smooth, flavorful smoke is just one facet of fascination. The main attraction, most often, is the atmosphere.

“It’s a lot of fun to just relax with your buddies and light it up,” said Michael Ataya, 21, of Canton. “The smell of the smoke is so beautiful. It smells like potpourri.”

Ataya, who is of Lebanese descent, says the Hookah Nights at the Sahara Grille in Jackson Township remind him of his visits to hookah cafes abroad.

“I think it’s great to have it here,” the Stark State College of Technology student said. “It’s nice to go out with your friends and relax, eat, hear the music and have the whole environment. It’s like being overseas.”

Sahara Grille owners Laila and Shafik Zakham added the atmospheric smoking nights recently to satisfy customer requests. The event is so popular on the weekends, hookah reservations are required.

It was in a similar environment in Cleveland where Dwayne Ivins of Massillon was smitten with the hookah. The experience spurred him to buy his own.

“It’s a cool social event,” said Ivins, 30. “If you’re already a smoker, it’s a way to enjoy something that’s different.”

Ivins regularly invites friends over to share a smoke at his house. Often, the apparatus’ appearance is enough to get inexperienced visitors talking, he said.

“It’s a good conversation starter,” he said.

WHERE THERE’S SMOKE ...

There is no hallucinogenic effect from inhaling the flavored tobacco. There are, however, the harmful effects of smoking.

Last month, the American Academy of Periodontology reported that water-pipe smokers are at a higher risk for periodontal disease than cigarette smokers. Another study, released this month from a World Health Organization study group, found that water-pipe smokers are at risk for the same types of diseases caused by cigarette smoking. The risks likely are compounded by the added toxins from the burning coals, it added.

The study also states that even though the smoke is filtered through water, it contains “high levels of toxic compounds, including high levels of carbon monoxide, metals and cancer-causing chemicals.” That runs contrary to what many hookah smokers are led to believe.

Tobacco packages contain the surgeon general warning about smoking, and, like cigarettes, users must be at least 18 to purchase the tobacco.

Despite all of that, the dangers aren’t enough to sway Ataya into giving up his seven hookahs. As in all things, he says, moderation is the key.

“My grandma smoked it for nine hours a day, and she’s still up and kicking. She still smokes it,” he said. “If I were lighting it up all day long every day, I’d consider it (dangerous). But if you’re just going out to do it once or twice a month, it’s not a problem to worry about.”

Reach Repository writer Angie Gent at (330) 580-8326 or e-mail: angie.gent@cantonrep.com