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  • Karnataka plans to ban hookah bars, raise tobacco-buying age from 18 to 21

    National
    Karnataka plans to ban hookah bars, raise tobacco-buying age from 18 to 21
    The state government also is planning to increase the tobacco purchase age from 18 to 21.

    Digital Desk: The Karnataka Health Minister, Dinesh Gundu Rao announced that the government is considering banning hookah bars and increasing the tobacco usage age from 18 to 21.

    The state government also is planning to increase the tobacco purchase age from 18 to 21.

    Young adults who visit hookah bars vary in age from 12 to 25. This tobacco use must end. As a result, laws ought to be passed, the state health minister said.


    He emphasised the unknown hookah ingredients that can cause addiction.

    "We don't know what ingredients are added when using a hookah. The youngsters are becoming addicted because of such components. It is getting misused," Rao cautioned.

    The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) has been suggested for revision by the Karnataka government.

    The current COTPA prohibits smoking in public areas and the sale of tobacco goods within 100 yards of school facilities. The proposed revisions, however, aim to expand this prohibition to areas within 100 metres of hospitals, medical facilities, courts, administrative offices, and places of worship.