Hookah smoking is not a new trend for teenagers, but it is one that is continually growing.

Hookah, a water pipe with at least one hose attached to it, consists of a smoke chamber, which is partially filled with water and a bowl for the flavored tobacco known as shisha and coals to rest upon.

What became a popular activity in college settings is continually becoming more of a trend for teenagers as well.

People smoke hookah because they want something that’s different from traditional cigarette-style smoking while still experimenting with tobacco, says the American Cancer Society.

Hookah bars continue to pop up throughout the United States, making it easier for students to have the accessibility to smoke hookah, without actually having to buy one of their own.

And though students can legally smoke the shisha at the age of 18, the bars and cafes are constantly filled with people who are of much younger ages.

Granite Bay High School students commonly pay for an hour or more of hookah smoking at Aladdin Café Hookah Bar in Rancho Cordova or Cobblestone Café in Sacramento.

“I get about 100 people who come in every night,” said Mima Parvin, the owner of Aladdin’s. “On the weekends there’s usually 300 to 400 (customers).”

Not all of Parvin’s customers are high school students, however, but he does see a consistent number of teenagers enjoying the same smoke that adults do.

Teenagers spend time at a hookah bar because it creates a relaxing environment to hang out with a group of friends and smoke in what they feel is a relatively safe way.

“Hookah is more popular now and it has become a good thing to do because it’s social,” Parvin said. “Many people don’t want (to inhale) nicotine, so they smoke hookah.”

However, the belief that inhaling watered-down smoke will eliminate the nicotine and other harmful toxins is a common misconception.

As easy as it is to hang out with a group of friends and pass along the hose, it’s also just as easy, medical experts say, to experience the same consequences that years’ worth of cigarettes can cause.

Common myths about hookah include that the water in the pipe filters and dilutes the tobacco so much that it never reaches the person’s mouth, and that hookah is in fact much healthier than smoking a cigarette.

These, however, have proven to be inaccurate statements.

The base water is used only to make the inhalation of smoke less harsh by cooling it. Studies have proven that water does in fact absorb some of the nicotine.

However, hookah sessions often last around 40-45 minutes, which allows for more smoke intake than that from a single cigarette.

The World Health Organization states that a one-hour hookah session allows the participants to be exposed to 100 to 200 times the amount of inhaled smoke a single cigarette gives off.

“Hookah smoke contains more toxins such as nicotine, carbon monoxide, tar, and other hazardous substances, than cigarette smoke,” an American Cancer Society document said. “Several types of cancer have been linked to hookah smoking (and) infectious diseases can be spread by sharing the pipe.”

Though the hookah trend rise is still fairly recent and its smokers have not spent many years inhaling the smoke, there are predictions that lung cancer can someday be a potential consequence.

Many high school students do not realize the amount of harmful toxins they are inhaling is high, yet, some do. The image of smoking out of a hookah is what becomes appealing.

“I know it can be worse than cigarettes, but I’d rather smoke (hookah) than a cigarette any day because a cigarette looks trashy,” an anonymous GBHS senior girl said.

Various upperclassmen students who wish to remain anonymous say that they do not believe smoking hookah is completely bad for their health. However, they add that they know it’s not healthy either and that’s why they don’t tell their parents when they smoke it with friends.

Though potential long-term effects of hookah are more severe than students envision, they do realize that inhaling the smoke is certainly not the best for their bodies.

Yet, with the high amount of teenagers who continue to spend their weekends passing the hose pipe with a group of friends, the threat of future health effects does not become a main thought.

“It’s just fun to smoke it and it tastes good,” the anonymous senior said. “I know it could be bad, but I don’t care.”