VietNamNet Bridge - Lying on deep red floor-cushion, 17-year-old Nguyen Bao Tram and her friends wallow in a cloud of scented smoke and exotic flavours while pulsating Persian music permeates the air. All that is missing are beautiful belly dancers in veils and bangles. On a low-slung table two Sheesha pipes sit entwined as long pipes are passed around.

Pulling the strawberry flavoured pipe closer, Tram says the Sheesha bar in Dao Duy Tu is her favourite hang-out as most bars don’t offer floor cushions for smokers.

"Only by stretching out lazily on soft cushions, can you enjoy all of the wonderful feelings Sheesha brings out," says Tram.

Tram, like other young Hanoians, is crazy about Sheesha, also known as hookah. A tobacco pipe with a long flexible tube connected to a container where the smoke is cooled by passing through water. The hookah was invented in India by a physician, Hakim Abul Fatah, during the reign of Emperor Akbar as a purportedly less harmful method of tobacco use. The physician suggested that tobacco "smoke should be first passed through a small receptacle of water so that it would be rendered harmless," some scientists still agree but research is inconclusive.

It is mostly used for smoking tobacco infused with herbs and fruits and is very popular in North Africa, the Middle East and India.

The current Sheesha craze began in a small bar on Tran Hung Dao Street in 2005. The bar owner knew little about it and was as surprised by its popularity as everyone else. Now Sheesha bars are popping up like mushrooms after the rains all over Ha Noi at differing quality and price.

"Large fully decorated bars with professional services and a variety of hookah flavours can be found in Dao Duy Tu, Ba Trieu, Pho Duc Chinh or Thanh Xuan Streets ranging in price from VND200,000 (US$12) to VND400,000 ($24) per bowl. Street-side vendors around Ho Tay (West Lake) are much cheaper; around VND50,000 ($3) to VND80,000 ($5) per bowl," explains Tram.

Ta Minh Kien, a student at the Foreign Trade University, said that smoking Sheesha is now his weekend habit. Due to his tight budget, he and his friends now frequent street vendors around West Lake.

"It’s very cheap to smoke here. After an hour on the pipe, that feeling of nicotine addiction dissipates along with the smoke," says Kien.

Chung, a Sheesha shop owner in Vong Thi Street, said that he recently had to buy five more Sheesha pipes to serve increasing crowds of customers.

Another youth, a 19-year-old boy, likes smoking Sheesha at home. According to his estimate, he’s spent nearly VND4 million ($242) on his hobby. A hookah pipe costs VND2.7 million ($164), flavourings cost VND1 million ($61) per kg and charcoal costs VND 79,000 ($5) per box.

The problem, however, is not the price. The 19-year-old boy says that many of his friends replace water with wine and add marijuana to the tobacco especially in parties.

"Fruit flavoured Sheesha is for girls. True addicts will never like this kind of smoke," claims the 19-year-old child.

Nguyen Chi Lang, vice director of the Central Tuberculosis and Lung Hospital, says there has been no specific research on the origin and nature of Sheesha in Viet Nam.

"However, Sheesha, like any other smoke, damages the respiratory and cardiovascular systems and even mental health," says Lang.

According to Dang Ngoc Hung, head of the Ministry of Public Security’s drug prevention and control centre, "Sheesha is not on the list of 254 pre-addictive substances".

"But it can be considered a drug if smokers add other additives such as marijuana, cannabis or hashish," he added.

However, inspection is not easy.

Vu Quoc Tuan, representative of the ministry’s legal chemical substance testing centre of the Criminal Science Institute, said that the tools and technical equipment they possess only catch dangerous and illegal additives listed by the United Nations.

"There are tonnes of chemicals in Sheesha and we can’t identify all of them, but some of them might be dangerous," says Tuan.

"In fact, some chemicals were allowed for use in the market at some point in time, but were later found to be addictive," he explains.

Nguyen Thuy Anh agreed to her 15-year-old daughter’s request for money to celebrate her birthday party at a Sheesha bar.

"I heard that Sheesha is made from natural herbs and fruits. I think it’s safe for my daughter and her friends," says the mother.

Quoc Tuan from the Criminal Science Institute said that all imported products must be inspected and analysed by the relevant authorities. Any product not inspected and analysed must be banned.

(Source: VNS)