So, an article from the 90′s made a shitstorm of lies, the infamous article claimed that ONE head of Sheesha has the same effect of smoking 100 cigarettes. The article was written by a Saudi scientist, as far as I can remember, to this day I have not been able to find it again. Regardless, it was a load of bull.

So what does modern science actually say about Sheesha? Is it better? Worse? … Well the answer is yes and no. But it certainly is NOT 100 cigarettes rolled into one, if you were wondering.

OK here is the low down: “…daily WP (water pipe) use is estimated to be equivalent (nicotine) to smoking 10 cigarettes/day.” PLEASE CONTINUE READING IT GETS WORSE ITS NOT ALL PANCAKES AND ROSES.

So, according to a study done at the School of Public Health in Loma Linda University in California in 2007. If you smoke sheesha on a daily basis, one head that is, you are receiving 7-13 as much nicotine you would get smoking a light type of cigarette. But, thats not the bad part, the following is the bad part. This just means Sheesha is really addictive, much 7-13 times more than one cigarette.

“Measurement of users’ exposure to WP-related toxicants reveals that, relative to a single cigarette, a single WP session exposes the smoker to 3–9 times the CO and 1.7 times the nicotine.” University of Memphis, Syrian Center for Tobacco Studies.

This study also compliments the previous study, and has very comparable numbers and this is how Sheesha is actually worse than smoking, relatively. But … if you only smoke one head a day, that means you are basically getting the same or a little/alot more CO that you would get smoking a whole pack.

Which basically means the following: If you smoke sheesha in a closed place and you are surrounded by a lot of people also smoking sheesha, you ARE receiving more harm than smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, actually you could be getting too much CO.

However, if you smoke one head in open air and away from other smokers, you are, at the very best, smoking at least a pack of cigarettes a day, give or take. It all depends on the size of the sheesha, the way you inhale and for how long…etc. But basically it brings us back to the following.

ONE HEAD OF SHEESHA = BASICALLY ONE WHOLE PACK, give or take. Because of the amount of CO you get from smoking it.

Its definitely more addictive, and more harmful.

Bottom line: its not 100 cigarettes. I have not been able to find ONE respectable study that actually says its worth 100 cigarettes.

Surprisingly enough, an article by the British Heart Foundation claims that it is true! .. only problem is they don’t seem to have a source on this, or how they reached this number. It sounds like they blindly followed the study that was made in the 90′s by the Saudi scientist that may or may not have fabricated his results. They all seem to be referring to a Dr Mike Knapton, but I have not been able to find his study, if any.

The somewhat shady article by BHF
Sky News Reporting on the issue, again no actual study or proof mentioned. Just a smug lady telling us not to smoke.

Unsurprisingly, I found the following quotes from local newspapers.

Some thoughts on the Sheesha ban rule

عجيل النشمي: الشيشة من الخبائث
Sheesha is malicious

بدر الحجرف: السهر في المقاهي هدم بيوتا كثيرة
Staying up late at sheesha cafes has teared down houses

عبدالمحسن المطيري: قرار شجاع أثلج الصدور
A brave ruling, you have made us happy.

عادل الذكير: المقاهي لا يأتي منها إلا الشر
Only evil can come out of these sheesha cafes

فايز العنزي: قرار طال انتظاره
Took you long enough
Link to full article

عبدالرزاق ابو القاسم Al-Watan

“تدخين رأس واحد من الشيشة يعادل 30 سيجارة”
Smoking one head of sheesha is equivalent to 30 cigarettes.

Link to full article

Dr. Khalid Al Ghanim – Al Rai

“السيجارة أرحم من الشيشة 20 مرة”

A Cigarette is 20 times less harmful than sheesha

Link to full article