Increased rate of teens visit hookah lounges in Oregon

By Staff Writer

A new report reveals that more Oregon teenagers are smoking hookah tobacco, according to news affiliate FOX 12.

The Indoor Clean Air Act Compliance Study 2010 shows that an increasing number of adolescents are visiting hookah lounges. The study claims that lounge owners are marketing their shops to kids by providing a social atmosphere and flavored tobacco.

The news provider reports that many teens smoke hookah tobacco because they believe it is not as addictive as the nicotine in cigarettes. The World Health Organization, however, says that smoke for a typical hookah session is the equivalent of smoking roughly 100 cigarettes.

The study found that girls in particular were going to hookah lounges more frequently. The number of eighth-grade females attending these establishments doubled over a year, while the rate of 11th-grade girls spiked as well.

An Oregon-based epidemiologist told the news source that lounges are taking advantage of a law that was intended for retail smoke shops. She plans to ask the legislature to adjust the law in January.

According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, early smokers of tobacco are more likely than nonsmokers to experience various behavioral problems by grade 12.