Hookah smoking banned in Karnataka
BENGALURU: The Karnataka government has imposed an immediate ban on tobacco and non-tobacco 'hookah' smoking in public places. In the Global Adult Tobacco Survey conducted by the World Health Organization, 22.8 percent of the population in Karnataka reported using tobacco, of which 8.8 percent were smokers. Also, it has been said that one in five children between the ages of 13 and 15 are addicted to tobacco in some form.Studies also show that hookah smoking is more dangerous than smoking. Therefore, the Karnataka government has taken the first step to bring the diseases caused by smoke under control.

Hookah shops across Karnataka have been ordered to close immediately. Also, there is an immediate ban on smoking and selling hookah in hotels, restaurants, pubs, bars, coffee shops and clubs. Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Kundurao announced this yesterday.

A small glass vial contains the drug. Inhaling the long tubes attached to it can cause a kind of intoxication. This is known as hookah.