Smoking hookah is less harmful than cigarettes is a common misconception, said Karnataka High Court on April 22 while dismissing challenges to a state government notification banning shish smoking, Bar and Bench reported.

The state government had issued a notification banning hookah smoking on February 7. The court said the action of the state government is in strict consonance with Article 47, which allows the state to prohibit consumption of intoxicating drinks and drugs considered harmful to health, except for medicinal usage.

Despite the fact that hookah is more injurious, the regulation on its smoking is ‘loose’, said the single judge bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna, who had reserved the order on March 11.

"The defence all over is that Hookah is less harmful than cigarettes. The studies again are otherwise... It is again a myth that smoking of hookah carries less risk of tobacco related diseases than smoking cigarettes. Hookah contains many of the common toxins as cigarettes,” the judge said, adding that more people are smoking shish across the world, citing a World Health Organization study.

The judge further added that smoking hookah for an hour is equivalent to smoking 100 cigarettes.

“If cigarettes can cause lung cancer or respiratory illness, hookah is catching up to it, as hookah sessions allow smokers for prolonged amount of usage, therefore, they are exposed to high concentrations of toxins. Hookah sessions are said to be typically around an hour in length, which is an estimated 200 puffs per session. If it is 200 puffs per session, it is equivalent to 100 cigarettes, in any of these sessions. Hookah, is, as addictive as a cigarette; as harmful as a cigarette; has the same chemicals as a cigarette."

Moreover, the judge said that hookah is more harmful because it is smoked in groups and same instrument for smoking is shared, which can lead to hepatitis and herpes.

The high court also asked why it took so long for the state government to ban it, adding that herbal hookahs are also not safe, according to the online portal.

It rejected the argument by the petitioners that herbal hookah does not have tobacco or nicotine, and therefore it cannot be banned.

"Any quantity of molasses being present in herbal hookah cannot be made use of unless there is expression permission from the hands of the State ... Therefore, merely because herbal hookah does not contain tobacco, it does not mean that it is to be unregulated, as the key component is molasses and molasses is regulated," the court said, according to the report.