In Musi Banyuasin, Indonesia, two-year-old Ardi Rizal is unable to run around with other children due to his unhealthy habit of smoking 40 cigarettes a day.

Though desperate, his parents are unable to stop this habit of his. If he doesn’t get his daily dose of smokes he throws tantrums, screaming and banging his head against the wall. Local officials even offered the family a new car if they can cease Ardi’s smoking addiction but it seems nothing is able to convince the boy to stop.

His father seemed to accept this fact and even said, “He looks pretty healthy to me. I don’t see the problem.” Right…struggling to move is a definite sign of healthiness.

What’s more disturbing about this news is that Ardi is not the only child smoking at such a young age. According to the Central Statistics Agency, 25% of children aged 3 to 15 have tried smoking in Indonesia and 3.2% of them become active smokers. Also, in three years time, 5 to 9 year olds smoking have increased 2.4 percent from 2001 to 2004, from 0.4% to 2.8%.

Seto Mulyadi, chairman of Indonesia’s child protection commission, says that, “a law to protect children and passive smokers should be introduced immediately in this country.”

A bill on smoking (which would “ban cigarette advertising and sponsorship, prohibit smoking in public, and add graphic images to packaging”) will be difficult to pass due to opposition from tobacco companies (also the fact that one-third of the population uses tobacco).

The government, however, has already started a few plans to limit tobacco use such as lowering cigarette production, increasing its tax and limiting smoking areas.

No matter how hard anti-smoking groups try to prohibit the use of smoking, it will always be a big part of Indonesia’s society, considering that it is the world’s third largest tobacco consumer.

It’s sad to see such a young child (who is still in diapers by the way) puffing out smoke and holding a cigarette. It’s a depressing image indeed. I wonder how he got addicted in the first place…

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