Table 3.

Responses by Ever Hookah Users among Undergraduate University Students to the Open-ended Question: “The first time you smoked a hookah, if you shared it, list reason(s) why.” (N = 970)^a

	N	(%)	Quotes
Shared hookah with friends	193	(28.5)	I was with good friends who were all sharing a hookah. It was a group of friends hanging out and passing around the hookah. All my friends were sharing hookah regularly. I shared it with a close friend. It was a party on the beach with all my friends. It was at a friend’s house. It’s a nice gesture of friendship. It was friends’ night out at a hookah lounge. Friends said it was cool to share a hookah. I felt pressured. peer pressure.
Sharing etiquette / norm of smoking hookah	154	(22.8)	I thought sharing was the point of hookahs. I thought it was a custom. Everybody shares hookah. That’s how you smoke a hookah.. .Duh. It’s not an individual activity. It is polite to pass it around. It’s common practice to share. To be social. I smoked with co-workers. It’s supposed to be shared between friends and people you enjoy. Sharing is caring. Nobody smokes hookah separately. A smoker offered me to share. It’s rude to not share.
Cheaper to share hookah	89	(13.1)	It was cheaper to share a hookah. Cheaper to pass it around all of us. Save money. There was 3 of us so we paid for one hookah at a hookah bar. I was with a group 6 of friends and we shared 2 hookahs and split the cost. I split the cost with a friend. It’s too expensive to buy one on my own. A friend bought it. Why would you pay for 2 hookahs? I didn’t want to smoke that much anyway.
There was only one hookah / only few hookahs	70	(10.3)	There was only one hookah and I had to share. We ordered one for the whole table. It was a group of people all smoking from one big hookah. There were more people then hookahs. Only one hose to smoke from. There were 4 of us and one hookah with one hose. There were about 6 of us passing it around. Ten men and one hookah. It’s not like everyone brings their own hookah.
I trust the people I share hookah with	40	(5.9)	I really trust the people I shared it with. I knew my friend was clean. I trust my friends aren’t diseased or disgusting. It was with close friends and it seems silly to keep changing the tip. I knew very well all the people that I was sharing with. I share everything with those friends. I was with my friends so I did not care.
Nothing wrong with sharing a hookah	39	(5.8)	I did not see anything wrong with sharing. Why wouldn’t I share it? It didn’t matter with my friend if we shared or not. It didn’t matter to me. Why would you not share a hookah? I didn’t care. I was taught in preschool to share!
Too much tobacco for one person	38	(5.6)	It is difficult to smoke an entire bowl by yourself. One hookah for one person is too much. I can’t smoke an entire bowl of hookah alone. I didn’t want to smoke all the tobacco by myself. One hookah is sufficient for up to 3 people. One bowl last forever. It’s too much tobacco to smoke alone. I knew I wouldn’t finish it. You will get sick if you smoke an entire bowl alone!!! Less tobacco per person.
Shared hookah to experiment	37	(5.5)	It was only to experiment. It was passed to me. friends said it tasted good so I shared. my friend wanted me to try it. I wasn’t sure I would like it. Never tried it before. I wanted to try it first. To see how it works. I didn’t know any different. Something new and interesting. Friends wanted to try it also so we shared it. It was tempting. It was our first time and did not want separate hookahs.
Shared hookah with family	17	(2.5)	I was with my family. I was young and my uncles were smoking it. It was my husband and now we share a lot. It’s my cousins. It was only my girlfriend and me and one hookah was enough. It was my boyfriend.

Note.

^a: Some participants provided no response, and others provided more than one response, for a total of 677 responses.