Achi news desk-
GUWAHATI: The Karnataka High Court in a judgment delivered on April 23, 2024 upheld the state government’s ban on hookah citing significant health risks and inadequate regulation. Justice M Nagaprasanna, who presided over the case, expressed concern over the common misconception that hookah smoking is safer than cigarette smoking, stressing that evidence suggests otherwise.
"The whole defense is that hookah is less harmful than cigarettes. Studies are different again. It is a myth that hookah smoking carries less risk of tobacco-related diseases than cigarette smoking," the court noted.
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Justice Nagaprasanna noted that a typical hookah session involves about 200 puffs, the equivalent of smoking 100 cigarettes. In addition, the communal nature of hookah smoking, where a single device is passed between several people, increases the risk of spreading diseases such as hepatitis and herpes.
The court criticized the state’s late response to the proliferation of hookah bars, questioning why it took so long to act given the obvious health risks. "One can understand why the country has been silent all these days to leave these places to grow hundreds," Justice Nagaprasanna commented.
The court emphasized that hookah smoking, including herbal hookah, falls under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) due to the use of tobacco or molasses. As such, the ban on smoking in public places and the ban on providing services in smoking areas also apply to hookah bars.
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Responding to arguments that herbal hookah does not contain tobacco, the court noted that it usually includes molasses, which is regulated under the Karnataka Prohibition Act, 1961. Thus, the state has the power to regulate or ban herbal hookah as well.
The Karnataka High Court has upheld the competence of the state government to regulate public health matters under the Seventh Schedule of the Indian Constitution. The court also upheld the state’s use of the Poisons Act, 1919, to crack down on nicotine-laced tobacco or hookahs.
