Plea for hookah bar licence dismissed

The Court observed that it is a well-known fact that, like cigarettes, hookah smoking contained the addictive drug nicotine and it is at least as toxic as cigarette smoking.

Justice S Vaidyanathan while dismissing a writ petition from Drizzle Restaurant praying for a direction to the Corporation Commissioner to consider its representation dated April 29, 2013 and consequently grant hookah licence, said “As hookah is proved to be more harmful than cigarettes and that it is not permitted i Chennai Corporation limits and not included in the Schedule of Trade Licence, as stated in the Corporation’s rejection order, this Court is not inclined to grant any relief to the petitioner, much less the relief sought in this writ petition.” The judge in his order also pointed out that, “While many hookah smokers may consider this practice less harmful than smoking cigarettes, hookah smoking carries many of the same health risks as cigarettes. Hookahs are water pipes that are used to smoke specially made tobacco, that is usually flavoured.

Hookah smoking is typically practiced in groups, with the same mouthpiece passed from person to person.

The charcoal used to heat tobacco in the hookah increases health risks by producing smoke that contains high levels of carbon monoxide, metals, and cancer-causing chemicals.” Justice Vaidyananthan noted.

He also added that the volume of smoke inhaled during a typical hookah session is about 90,000 millilitres, compared with 500 to 600 millilitres inhaled when smoking a cigarette and doctors say that passive smokers are more vulnerable to cancer.