AVOID A LEGAL LOGJAM OVER HOOKAH BAR BANS

THIS weekend, as the nation raises a toast to the new year, the dry states of Bihar, Gujarat, Mizoram and Nagaland, and the Union territory of Lakshadweep will once again look on in envy and dial the bootlegger.

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Though the sale of alcohol is prohibited in these states, it is well known that liquor is quite easily available in the thriving black market. Gujarat, which imposed prohibition when the state was formed in 1960, is anything but a dry state; ditto with Bihar. Alcohol is smuggled in through bootlegging networks oiled by bribes; or it is brewed locally without adequate safeguards, leading to tragedies every now and then. Last December, over 70 people died in Saran district of Bihar after drinking illicit liquor; in July 2022, 125 people in Vadodara and 150 in Ahmedabad in Gujarat met the same fate. All this goes to show that prohibiti