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The 15 Reasons behind the World Upsurge in Hookah
(Narghile,
Shisha) Smoking
OBECTIVE REASONS
1-Global Tourism and Migration
Flows (back from Egypt, Tunisia, etc. with a hookah in
the suitcase; hookah lounges in the West)
2- A New Hassle-Free
Lighting System (new easy to light charcoal)
3- Relative
Acceptance by Non-Smokers (notorious smoke irritants
filtered out)
4- Unexepected
Backlash Effect of Anti-Tobacco Campaigns (viewed
as safer than cigarette smoking)
5- Filtration of Some Noxious Substances (some
carcinogens, among others, may be filtered out)
6- A “Light” Dependence (seen
as easy to quit)
7- The Influence of Television (case of
the Arab World) (Egyptian movies have featured
hookah smokers for decades)
8- The Rise of Individualism in Modern Societies (socialising
needs and the search for new forms of sociability)
SUBJECTIVE
REASONS
9- Conviviality (“social” smoking, sharing
the hose (ludens), talking, long time passing)
10- A Powerful
Symbolism (dream, art, “mysticism”, “peace
pipe”)
11- A Transversal Social, Sexual, Religious
and Inter-Generational Practice (social and cultural melting
pot)
12- Flavours (“tobamel” (mu‘assel)
, a flavoured tobacco (or no-tobacco)-honey/molasses based
mixture)
13- The Cultural Status of Honey (Koran, The Bees)
14- A
Highly Sensory Experience (Five senses permanently stimulated)
15- “Rebellion” Values (an “anti-modern” concept
of time passing in a global world. A social and cultural
counter-product of the globalisation process of the Nineties)
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Dr Kamal T. Chaouachi
Researcher and Consultant in Tobacco Control (Paris)
Author of: Tout savoir sur le narguilé. Société, culture,
histoire et santé [Eng.: Everything You Always Wanted to Know about
Hookahs. Society, Culture, Origins and Health Aspects]. Paris, Maisonneuve
et Larose 2007, 256 pages, colour.
http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dgbz283m_19f97ts3 |
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© copyright K.C. 2006 and 2007
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