A new smoke has just arrived in town. College students can once again be found huddling together in dark, smoky rooms, passing around a pipe and chattering away. But hey, don’t worry, coppers. Unlike what y’all smoked as kids, the pipes we puff on nowadays are not only legal, they’re the new rage. Hookahs have moved from the Eastern world into the West, and here at N.C. State we’re embracing this bit of culture with arms open wide.

Hookah lounges are the new coffee houses. Whenever new drugs, or new ways of doing drugs, are discovered, little shops pop up all over the world to introduce the public to a different way of life. When cocoa beans first came out of South America, hot chocolate shops lined European streets. The same with coffee. And now sheesha, with a lounge coming soon to a street near you.

These drug shops, be them for absinthe or chocolate, coffee or sheesha, alcohol or opium, have always attracted a broad range of people. Picasso could be found sipping absinthe, seeing seas of colors he would paint later. Hemingway drank to drown the sorrows he so eloquently wrote. And kings and citizens could be found in earnest discussions in hookah shops, passing around ideas and hookah tubes alike.

Hookah shops are places for conversation. With a hookah session lasting anywhere from 30 minutes to a couple hours, the longer the hookah burns, the more the smokers settle into discussion. A hookah shop brings together those from all walks of life, people ready for an earnest discussion or just looking to unwind after a hard day of work.

Visiting a hookah lounge is a sign of worldliness, a sign of intelligence or classiness if you will. So it comes as no surprise that 45 percent of colleges and universities in the U.S. have a hookah lounge located near them. UNC-Chapel Hill has one. NCSU has two – yet another sign of our intellectual superiority. (When was the last time you saw UNC-CH on the Colbert Report in a war about word meanings?)

Now hookahs are now moving out of lounges and into homes. Brent Road, on a good day, has at least one porch filled with students studying over the hookah. Sometimes the crowds at a party will part to reveal a hookah at the conversation center. Even some chain smokers have found the hookah as a relaxing reward for cutting a half a pack out of their day. In so many ways hookahs are being incorporated into our society, slipping in rank and file almost unnoticed, like ninjas in the night. Don’t be surprised to walk out of class one day and find a hookah set up in the brick yard. And before you get all excited, yes it is, and always has been, for tobacco use only.

So if you do see a hookah, be respectful, pull up a chair, and ask to join in. Many places, especially lounges, provide individual pipe tips for sanitation reasons. If they’re in use, grab one and make sure to take it out before you pass the tube. No one wants your nasty cooties.

While sitting and admiring the smoking apparatus in front of you, take stock. Where is it from? There are at least five places within a mile of campus that sell hookahs, not to mention all the international sources and online ordering sites. Next figure out what kind of sheesha fills the bowl. Sheesha is typically tobacco mixed with honey, molasses or fruit juice and different herbs. There are flavors available, ranging from mint to jasmine, apple to strawberry and beyond. Some people even prefer the unflavored tobacco, but why bother?

The type of coal used to burn the sheesha is also important. Traditional, natural coals are best because they contain few contaminates and burn cleanly. Quick light charcoal is also available, but these coals contain many toxins and should be avoided under all circumstances. It’s OK to just say no.

Last but not least is the type of liquid used in the water chamber. Ice water works the best at cooling the smoke, but make sure it’s clean otherwise its useless as a filter. Milk, wine, juice and coffee also can be used with various, and usually sticky, results.

When the hookah pipe is out and the coals are extinguished don’t forget to thank your fellow smokers for the conversation and the company. And if you’re still stressed out, sit back down, hit the hookah, lean back and relax.