We recognize that tobacco use kills millions of people around the world each year, but most of the available research focuses on cigarette smoking. The scope of tobacco use extends well beyond cigarettes, and includes an upswing in hookah, or water pipe, smoking, which many young people believe is less harmful than other forms of tobacco use. What do we know about the growing popularity of hookah smoking? What can we do to educate our young patients about the dangers of this form of tobacco use? Dr. Thomas Eissenberg, associate professor of psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University and an expert in the behavioral pharmacology of drugs of abuse, joins host Dr. Leslie Lundt to discuss his research on waterpipe smoking.
