The Karnataka government is contemplating a on ban hookah and e-cigarettes in the state after the ban on gutka two years ago. A report in Deccan Herald states that the Minister for Health and Family Welfare UT Khader said that they don’t know what is being sold off as hookah and this is impacting children. Thus, they are looking at banning both hookah and e-cigarettes.

The minister has stated that they will also clamp down on sale of flavoured tobacco and pan masala sachets. According to the report, he said, “On one hand, we spend crores of rupees on research to find drugs to treat cancer and on the other, we pay just Rs 2 to buy gutka.”

A study was conducted by the Institute for Global Tobacco Control of Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University and the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) India office. In Karnataka, the study found that 80% of the respondents wanted the ban on gutka to extend to other forms like smokeless tobacco. The study reported that 64% of people had stopped smoking following the ban on gutka.