Water Pipes light up nation, undergraduate life

BY CAROLYN GRAY STAFF WRITER October 25, 2005

Aladdin’s Grill & Catering on Franklin Street is alive with bright colors, vibrant music and light seeping out of every corner.

Rich tapestries hang from the walls, the bar is inlaid with turquoise stones fashioned as stars and tables are covered with ornate cloths and parted to accommodate a belly dancer and the nightly hookah crowd.

Hookah, the practice of smoking flavored tobacco that is first filtered through heated water, has found its niche in Chapel Hill as part of a growing trend in cities across the United States.

“In the Middle East, after you eat dinner you have coffee and smoke hookah,” says Mush Firat, owner of Aladdin’s. “It’s a cultural thing.”

Hookah has existed for centuries in the Middle East as a social activity, Firat says.

The hookah, also called a water pipe, has an ornate finish, glassy texture and hoses extending from the base.

Senior Chris Arena says he already has purchased two of them. The price of pipes range from $60 to $80.

After being filtered through water, the smoke continues through a hose and is inhaled, he says.

Hookah smoking is more common in the western United States, Arena says, who is from San Diego. “It is much bigger there then it has ever been here.”

The flavored tobacco that is used in the hookah is called shisha, Arena says, and can cost as much as $15 per bowl.

“A lot of people mix and try different flavors,” he says, “You can put Coke in the hookah to bring out the flavor.”

Arena says he smokes hookah to relax. “It’s a cool feeling,” he says. “I like to blow O’s to impress people.”

Many are reluctant to try hookah because it is so different, he says.

“I was intimidated at first, but I grew to love it.”

For Arena, there is a difference between smoking hookah and other drugs.

Hookah brings people together to discuss issues and talk, he says.

“Cigarette smoke is harsh and it makes you stink,” he says. “Hookah is not healthy, but it’s not something you get addicted to.”

Health officials do warn of potential health hazards related to smoking hookah.

“Going through water doesn’t filter anything,” says Morris Godwin, coordinator of the substance abuse programs for the Center for Healthy Student Behaviors at UNC.

“Nothing has been shown to minimize the dangers of smoking,” he says.

Arena, like many of his peers, likes hookah because of the social implications and the discussion it prompts when smoking with others.

Many people smoke hookah and drink during a party as something different to do, he says.

“I like to sit on the balcony and smoke and relax,” he says.

With detailed hand-painted walls and foreign music, Aladdin’s not only attracts hookah smokers, but anyone interested in international fare.

“Students and local artists come in,” Firat says, “Basically everybody’s here … We get a lot of UNC professors, one of them is my DJ.”

Firat says it is interesting to watch people that are new to hookahs experience the culture.

“One of the reasons I have hookah here is because I want students to talk with their friends about common issues.

“Most people come to bars to get drunk. I’m doing this here and I hope UNC students will enjoy it.”