story by Mickey Redlingshafer, photos by Menley Brennan

*due to sensitive material 2 names have been changed

Lounging on comfortable chairs. Smoking chilled flavored tobacco. Listening to soothing Middle Eastern music. Quietly socializing. Hookah bars draw a young crowd with this atmosphere.

Including underage STA students.

There are 10 hookah bars in the Kansas City area. Five of these bars are located in Westport, 3.1 miles from STA. According to STA students who have attended some of these bars, they are not like the typical bar that serves alcohol. Hookah bars draw a younger crowd, because Missouri and Kansas laws allow customers 18 and older to smoke tobacco. However, some STA students under the age of 18 claim they have been illegally admitted. These STA students see hookah bars as a hangout, but there are still health and legal risks.

What is a hookah bar?

A hookah bar serves flavored tobacco that is smoked through a hookah. A hookah is a smoking device that has tobacco pipes of Near Eastern origin with long, flexible tubes by which the smoke is drawn through a jar of water and thus cooled.

There are hookah bars around the Kansas City area. According to a number of STA seniors who attend these bars, the most popular places are Sinbad’s Cafe & Hookah Lounge and Hookah Haven, both are located in Westport. According to senior Nikki Rodriguez, to smoking hookah at a bar like this costs about 15 dollars.

STA senior Cindy Miller*, who recently went to Sinbad’s Cafe & Hookah Lounge with a fellow senior Danni Porter explains, that the tobacco in a hookah is often flavored and offers stimulating effects to users.

Danni [Porter] and I got a small buzz of [smoking hookah],” Miller said. “It didn’t last long, but it just made your vision a little hazy.”

According to Miller, the hookah was prepared for them and brought to their table.

“At Sinbad’s, they prepare everything for you,” said Miller. “You go up to the register, order your flavor and how many people. They give you a card, and about five minutes later, a guy brings you your hookah. From there, you put the mouthpiece on the tube and you suck in the smoke. The shisha or tobacco is in a cup with foil over it, and charcoal on top of that to heat the shisha up, which then combined with the hot water in the hookah, creates the flavored smoke.”

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Hookah bars are open to anyone 18 and older. Customers may smoke only hookah-tobacco, not cigars, cigarettes or illegal drugs like marijuana. Smoking of any kind in bars and restaurants was outlawed in the Missouri Clean Indoor Air Law. Therefore, hookah bars cannot serve food or alcohol.

Miller, who is only 17, was admitted to Sinbad’s Cafe & Hookah Lounge despite her age.

“I did not have any trouble getting in,” Miller said. “They were not asking for IDs so they just let me in without question.”

According to the manager of Hookah Haven, Avaria Derseh, there is a wide age range of people who come there.

“On a typical night, we’ll see 18 year-olds to like 26 or 27 year-olds,” Derseh said. “The crowd is very laid back. [Hookah Haven] is just a small place to hang out, sit in comfortable lounge chairs and smoke hookah.”

Porter said hookah bars change up the routine.

“Cindy [Miller] and I went to the hookah bars one night to see what it was like because all of our friends were at Rockhurst homecoming and we were bored,” Porter said. “It was fun because we got really dressed up, which we don’t often do, and got to go out. It kind of seemed illegal even though it wasn’t so that made it a little more fun!”

According to Derseh, Hookah bars have “more of a social purpose than addictive purpose.”

“People often do not inhale the hookah smoke, but just sort of play with it,” Derseh said. “This way they can still taste it. It is much like how many people smoke cigars.”

Miller agrees that the atmosphere of the hookah bars play a role in the fun.

“Hookah itself isn’t necessarily fun,” Miller said. “However, we went to Sinbad’s and the people and atmosphere [were] really fun.”

Rodriguez who recently went to Sinbad’s Cafe and Hookah Lounge agrees with Derseh.

“I would never want to go to a hookah bar alone, because it seems like a casual activity you do with friends to hang out and talk,” Rodriguez said “We went early, so there were not as many people as I was expecting. It had a very relaxed and casual environment. It felt like going into a coffee shop, but much more social and friendly.”

According to Derseh, Hookah Haven offers many different flavors and even sets up mixes of flavors so customers know what tastes good.

STA students at Hookah Bars

According to Derseh, the Hookah Haven serves a lot of 18 and 19-year-olds, especially on the weekends.

“There is a live DJ on the the weekends and it’s a really laid back environment,” Dersen said. “I would still say our crowd is lively, sometimes people even get up to dance… but for the most part, they are here to hang out smoke hookah and socialize.”

A number of STA seniors have visited the hookah bars and tried hookah, some of them claim they have gone although they are not yet 18. According to Hall, although she did not have trouble getting into Hookah Haven, she did have a problem telling her parents.”

“My parents didn’t know I went to the hookah bars,” Hall said. “I don’t think they would have wanted me to go to Westport at night, let alone go there to smoke tobacco.”

According to Derseh, Hookah Haven checks each customer’s ID.

“We check IDs every time,” Derseh said. “I don’t know how [Hall] would have snuck [into Hookah Haven]. We have recently let go 2 employees for not checking IDs enough. I like to uphold strict rules about checking IDs.”

Hall believes that hookah bars are safer than trying hookah at home or a party.

“I think smoking hookah at the bars is much safer because there is a controlled amount given to you,” Humpalot said.

Rodriguez thinks that going to a hookah bar with friends is fun, but she wouldn’t do it too often.

“I would only want to go [to the hookah bars] again in a larger group of people where it is a much more social activity,” Rodriguez said. “I think hookah bars would be fun for being out on a weekend hanging out, but at a house, it would be more fun.”

Hookah health risks

According to the American Cancer Society, a majority of hookah smokers do not realize the health risks. Waterpipe smoke, or hookah, contains significant amounts of cancer-causing substances.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), hookah smokers often think that it is a healthier alternative than smoking cigarettes, but this is false.

According to the CDC “Hookah smokers are at risk for the same kinds of diseases as are caused by cigarette smoking, including oral cancer, lung cancer, stomach cancer, cancer of the esophagus, reduced lung function, and decreased fertility.”

According to Derseh, smoking hookah for two straight hours (and inhaling) is equivalent to smoking a pack of cigarettes. However, he also emphasized that most people smoke hookah like they smoke cigars, without inhaling. Therefore, according to Derseh, smoking hookah is often less hazardous than smoking cigarettes.

Porter is aware of the fact that hookah can has similar health risks to cigarettes.

“I assume taking hookah is just like smoking a cig,” Porter said. “It kind of burns your throat and Cindy and I definitely got a ‘buzz’ but it was very short lived.”

Although Hall knows there are health risks, she does not think hookah is as dangerous to use as cigarettes.

“My friend [from Colorado who introduced hookah to me] told me that hookah is worse for you than cigs,” Hall said. “I still don’t consider [hookah] to be as bad as cigs though, because it is not something I, or most people, would get addicted too. It is more of a fun, social thing to go to the hookah bars than to smoke cigs.”