Hookah and cigarettes: which is worse?

Two lighters are lit. One is held to the end of a cigarette while the other is held to a piece of charcoal on top of a hookah. Both items are being lit to produce tobacco smoke.
We know tobacco causes multiple health problems, but is one method of smoking it safer than the other?
In an anonymous poll of FGCU students, cigarettes were deemed worse. Out of 35 students polled, 63.2 percent said they believed smoking a cigarette is safer than a 45-minute hookah session. Ream more »

BRUSSELS — Europe’s health commissioner said on Thursday he is working on proposals to tighten bloc-wide advertising and marketing constraints on tobacco products.Malta’s John Dalli said Brussels can neither legislate nor impose firm anti-smoking measures on European Union member states, but plans to revisit existing EU laws in order to make tobacco products “less attractive”. 