MADURAI: The Madurai bench of Madras High Court on Thursday expressed concern over students of schools becoming addicted to consuming Cool Lip, a harmful tobacco product.

Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy while going through petitions seeking bail in connection with cases booked against those illegally selling such Cool Lip, said despite a ban on sale in Tamil Nadu, such items were smuggled into Tamil Nadu from other states and being sold illegally.

Moreover, GST is levied on cool lip manufacturing companies.

Nowadays, students engage in fighting because of drug abuse and many tend to lose their cognitive abilities.

Citing these, the Judge asked ‘how far are we going to protect the students? It seems that students in all schools across the State were using Cool Lip and asked why it is not declared unsafe for consumption and enforced a nationwide ban.

Citing these, the Judge directed the government counsel to get instructions from central and State governments. The case was posted for further hearing on September 20.