Hubbly Bubbly: The Use of a Waterpipe as a Gateway to Other Substance Misuse

ABSTRACT

In recent years there has been a widespread trend amongst university students to smoke tobacco using a hubbly bubbly, also known as water pipe or hookah pipe smoking. This study sought to establish if the smoking of hubbly bubbly was linked to experimentation with other drugs among students. Using a mixed methods exploratory research design, data were gathered from 50 questionnaires and 10 interviews with students who smoked hubbly bubbly. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. The results of the study showed that smoking hubbly bubbly can indeed act as a gateway to more illicit drug use, which has implications for substance abuse prevention programmes.