Flying with shisha smoke

Smoking shisha has become a popular fashion of urban youths, who think that smoking shisha is fashionable. More shisha shops have opened to meet the demand.

VnnNews – Smoking shisha has become a popular fashion of urban youths, who think that smoking shisha is fashionable. More shisha shops have opened to meet the demand.

Smoking Shisha in Saigon

In a closed room, a group of young, stylish boys and girls sat or lay on sofas. A young man breathed shisha smoke from a pipe, then discharged the smoke, closed his eyes and dropped his body on the couch. Other people were also amorous in shisha smoke.

Not far from them, a group of dancers performed a belly dance in sexy clothes.

In the next room, someone had a coughing fit. “Change the coal, it burns smell!” a man yelled out. One immediately put several pieces of coal in the shisha tray. The party continued.

This is a close-up of a shisha café and restaurant near HCM City’s Tan Son Nhat airport. This restaurant opened just several months ago, but it is always crowded. Most customers are youngsters, who pay 250,000 dong ($13). To have parties from until 2am, each group pays over 1 million dong ($50), plus money for wine.

Shisha is stylish?

Shisha is imported from Egypt. It is a mixture of different kinds of leafs and tree roots scented with fruit or coffee flavors and mixed with bee honey. Smoking shisha has become popular with urban young people, who think that smoking Shisha is fashionable, doesn’t contain nicotine, and is not addictive.

Shisha is also called “hookah” in Indian because it is sourced from India. Shisha traveled from India to some countries in the Middle East and some Southeast Asian countries like Thailand, Singapore, and Vietnam. Shisha is very popular among youngsters in Hanoi.

According to an official from the Ministry of Public Security’s Institute for Criminal Sciences, shisha has little nicotine, it is not addictive and it is not banned in Vietnam.

According to the owner of a shisha café-restaurant near Tan Son Nhat airport, there are shisha materials suitable for those who have smoked for a long time as well as for newcomers, but the former is more expensive.

Most shisha cafes supply both trays and materials. The price for a tray is 2 million dong (over $100). A small pack of material is 250,000 dong ($13) and 400,000 dong ($22) for 100 pieces of coal.

Shisha smokers in HCM City group up to organize shisha parties and exchange tricks and experiences in smoking, plus to seek new members.

“Bay” (fly) is the word that shisha smokers use to describe the feeling from smoking shisha. T.A., a HCM City University of Technology student who used to smoke shisha, remarked: “Previously I smoked shisha very often, but I’ve given it up because it is costly. I have seen teens ‘fly’ with shisha more fiercely than me.”

To prove that they are stylish, many youngsters go to shisha shops every night. Some consider it as a way to relax, but others turn shisha into a bad habit. Some newspapers reported youngsters mixing shisha with drugs. Many youngsters also stole their parent’s money to smoke shisha.

Some expert comments on shisha:

Dr. Dao Thi Yen Thuy from HCM City Nutrition Centre: Materials used in shisha have not been tested to determine whether or not they are toxic, but the coal smoke is surely harmful to health, especially the lungs. Smoking for a long time can cause cancer. It is more dangerous for people who are allergic to smoke. CO2 can also cause poisoning. Briefly, young people should not smoke shisha because it is not good for their health.

Nguyen Huu Long, lecturer from HCM City Teacher Training College: Along with motorbike racing and school violence, smoking shisha is not good for young people. The reason they smoke shisha is just to show off that they are stylish and have a strong personality.

Smoking shisha often can form bad habits and create others like smoking cigarettes or taking stimulants. I think just a small number of young people smoke shisha, but if we don’t educate the youth in time, that number will rise.  

Herbalist Dinh Cong Bay, Secretary General of HCM City Herbal Medicine Association: I think that anything with CO2 is harmful to our bodies. CO2 can cause many lung-related and respiratory diseases.

PV

Tags: Hcm City, Smoke Shisha, Smoking Shisha, Young People, Physics games

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