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Pass the Hookah on the Lefthand Side

Consider this: college students are smoking hookahs, and they're not doing it to get high. They leave the pot out and are sticking to tobacco, and they're hookahing "to relax and be sociable," in the words of one enthusiast.

Too wizened to know ourselves, we're willing to take the Times' word for it. If it sounds like fun to you, keep in mind that the killjoys at the National Cancer Institute would just as soon you didn't: "Even though [the smoke is] coming through the water and feeling smoother, some studies show the levels of toxic compounds are at least as high, if not higher, than cigarettes." "[And] where there's sharing of a mouthpiece, there's a risk of infection, and there are some documented cases of herpes."

Ewwww. Pulling the herpes card smacks of desperation, but maybe that's just us.

[Image via Bombardier]

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·   Collegians Smoking Hookahs ... Filled With Tobacco [NYT]