Dangers of Smoking

Indonesia is the third country with the largest number of smokers in the world after India and China. More than 300 billion cigarettes produced are enjoyed by 70 million active smokers.

The Demographic Institute of the University of Indonesia, assesses that the increase in smokers in Indonesia is due to the control of cigarettes in Indonesia which is still very weak.

"Our cigarette prices are still cheap, yes, the price ranges from maybe 8000-15000. And it can be bought per stick, even small children can still access cigarettes. So, because the price of cigarettes is almost the same as candy, consumption continues to increase. Then the advertisements are still intense, yes, on television, and on the radio."

Not only known as a country with the largest number of smokers, Indonesia is also known as one of the countries with the largest cigarette industry in the world.

---

---

It is recorded that there are 8 million people whose lives depend on the cigarette industry, from upstream to downstream. Meanwhile, the turnover of the tobacco sector in Indonesia is quite large, with a value of 250 trillion Rupiah. Ironically, some of the richest people in Indonesia are cigarette industry owners, with incomes of trillions of Rupiah. The majority of cigarette industry areas in Indonesia are located in Central Java and East Java. One of the areas that is famous for its kretek cigarette industry center is the city of Malang in East Java. Currently, there are around 70 local cigarette industries located in the city of Malang. Previously, this apple city had more than 400 kretek cigarette industries. There are around 1,500 workers, the majority of whom are women, working as kretek cigarette rollers in the Penarukan Kepanjen bonded area in Malang. They hang their lives by earning 150 thousand Rupiah per day, the fruit of rolling 2000-3000 cigarettes. The government's efforts to limit cigarette consumption for public health reasons are becoming a dilemma. Because the potential of the cigarette industry is still a mainstay of the country's economy, from tax and excise income reaching 150 trillion Rupiah. "I see it actually has to be directly proportional. Well, on the one hand, how do we minimize the impact of cigarettes so that our society is affected slowly, because our TB is also high. I do not justify it because of cigarettes, because this is also a part. On the other hand, if we look at investment and industry, this also has an indirect impact, both excise collected by the central government, and absorption of labor. So, which side is it? In my opinion, we can minimize each other in relation to the impact of globalization." The policy of limiting cigarette consumption continues to reap polemics. This is related to the government's plan to access the remote convention on tobacco control, or FCTC. Meanwhile, several parties including the DPRI consider that ratification is an optimal middle ground, in addition to drafting the tobacco bill. Whatever the policy, the government must be able to accommodate the rights of the community to live healthily and free from cigarette smoke, as well as maintain the sustainability of the lives of tobacco farmers and workers in the cigarette industry.

Greetings always compact.

By @midiagam