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Karnataka hikes legal smoking age to 21, bans hookah bars, public smoking
The Karnataka government on Saturday introduced a new law that raises the legal age for buying tobacco products to 21 from 18. Additionally, it has banned hookah bars and public smoking, and said it will introduce strict penalties for any violations.
The new rules were notified on May 30, a week after the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Karnataka Amendment) Bill 2024 received the President's approval on May 23. Coincidently, May 30 also marks 'World No Tobacco Day'.
While smoking, and chewing or spitting tobacco is banned in public, there are exemptions for specific places like hotels and airports. It allows the creation of a dedicated smoking zone in hotels with at least thirty rooms, restaurants that can seat thirty or more people, and airports.
Hookah bars, which had become popular with a younger demographic are to be closed entirely. As per the new provision, "No person shall, either on his own or on behalf of any other person, open or run any hookah bar in any place, including the eating house, pub, bar, or restaurant by whatever name it is called."
Anyone found operating a hookah bar will face a minimum jail term of one year, which can extend up to three years as well as a fine of at least ₹50,000, which may go up to ₹100,000.
Sales of tobacco and related products are also banned near schools or colleges. "No person shall sell, offer for sale, or permit the sale of cigarettes or any other tobacco products to any person who is under the age of twenty-one years," the new rules say. "It cannot be sold in an area within a radius of one hundred meters of any educational institution, and it cannot be sold in loose or in single sticks."
Also, the penalty for smoking in public and for selling tobacco to those under 21 has gone up significantly from ₹200 to ₹1,000.
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