Blanket Ban on Hookah Across Karnataka State

Bengaluru: In an attempt to check tobacco-related diseases, Karnataka Health and Family Welfare Ministry on Wednesday announced the immediate implementation of a blanket ban on Hookah across the state.

A circular of the state health department stated that the Karnataka government put an immediate ban on the use and sale of both tobacco and non-tobacco Hookah in public establishments across the state.

The use and sale of Hookah have been banned effective immediately from hotels, restaurants, pubs, bars, lounges, cafes, clubs, and other establishments.

As per the Karnataka government notification, “This decisive action is backed by alarming data from the WHO Global Adult Tobacco Survey-2016-17 (GATS-2), which states that 22.8% of adults in Karnataka use tobacco, with 8.8% being smokers.”