Cigarette accessible to underage smokers

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Tue, 05/13/2008 10:39 AM  |  City

Seventeen-year-old Aurelia doesn't feel comfortable studying for exams without a burning cigarette in hand.

"My parents are OK about me smoking, as long as I do it openly in front of them," she said.

Aurelia and her two close friends, Citra and Dahlia (not their real names), have a lot of things in common. They all go to the same high school in Jakarta, enjoy coffee and are smokers.

When her two friends want to study and smoke, they do it at her house.

"We all started smoking when we were 15 years old, when we were in our second year of junior high school," she said.

After an art test the following day, all three of them said they had another thing in common.

"People like us, who are already smokers, are tempted to try new cigarettes by looking at advertisements," said Dahlia, who became a smoker two months after a friend gave her a cigarette.

"I think if we want to be fair, we should not allow cigarettes to be advertised at all," Citra said.

The three schoolgirls are just a small part of the growing number of youths addicted to cigarettes.

The 2006 World Health Organization's Global Tobacco Youth Survey showed 68.1 percent of junior high school students in Jakarta could easily buy cigarettes without being asked to prove they were older than 17.

It also showed by the age of 13 to 15, at least 37.3 percent of children had tried smoking.

Seto Mulyadi of the National Commission for Children said these children were also known as premature smokers.

He said students were prone to start smoking because of the strong advertising campaigns conducted by cigarette companies.

He also said public service announcements had gradually lost their grip in sculpturing youth behavior today.

"It's really reverse psychology. The more we tell them not to smoke, the more likely they are to do it," said Seto.

He said smoking had become prevalent among very young children; even five-year-olds were reported to smoke regularly.

"Before doing anything else," Seto added, "the government needs to ratify the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC)."

It is only when the framework has been ratified the children will be protected from the dangers of smoking, he said.

The government is preparing a draft for a new law to mitigate the health impacts of tobacco. The upcoming law will adopt articles from the framework.

One of the important points to be determined in the law is the age restriction for smokers, banning teenagers under the age of 18 from smoking.

The FCTC also bans cigarette advertisements.

Seto emphasized the impact of advertising campaigns on youth.

"Cigarette advertisements shape the behavior of our youths for their future. So instead of preventing teenagers from smoking, we are luring them into become a new generation of smokers," he said.

A spokeswoman from PT Matahari Putra Prima, Tasha Abigail, said the company's supermarket, Foodmart, had no policy prohibiting them from selling cigarettes to youths.

"There's no specific rule, but usually if a high school student in uniform comes to the cashier with the intention of buying cigarettes, the cashier reminds them of the dangers of smoking," said Tasha.

Today's teenagers can purchase cigarettes in places other than supermarkets. They can easily buy cigarettes from hawkers, street vendors and even cafes.

A senior waiter in a cafe in Cilandak Town Square shopping mall in South Jakarta, Ikhsan Hendarto, said high school students often came to the cafe for cigarettes.

"Some hang out here while reading and smoking, while some just drop by to buy cigarettes," said Ikhsan.

He supposed the students found it more convenient to buy cigarettes from cafes, although the prices were usually double those at supermarkets. They also avoid long lines at supermarkets, he said,

Lanny Bob Nasution, the head of Lembaga Mengatasi Masalah Merokok (LM3), a non-profit organization concerning smoking problems, said the growing number of young smokers in Indonesia was worrying.

"Advertisements associate smoking with being masculine, modern and trendy. This greatly influences young people today," said Lanny.

She said LM3 had been working for 18 years to reduce the effects of smoking and had helped people quit. She said LM3 had learned it was important to focus on young people who could start smoking and were prone to addiction.

The non-profit organization provides an intensive counseling program for those who want to stop smoking by guiding them every step of the way.

Before beginning the program, smokers are asked to set their own targets. This helps clients design a reasonable and logical path to quit smoking, she said.

Lanny said Indonesia needed to work hard, considering the tobacco industry had contributed a huge amount of revenue to the country through tobacco tax. (lva)

Methods for quitting smoking

1. Self-help

When unable to quit cold turkey, smokers can use a wide variety of resources to help them. They include self-help books, pamphlets, videos, audiotapes and even websites. This method is particularly useful for those with a mild nicotine addiction and those with moderate to high levels of social support.

2. Counseling

Individual counseling with a doctor, a nurse or specialists help smokers design and carry out their path toward recovery. Telephone counseling is also a choice for smokers who can't provide time to consult experts.

3. Intensive counseling

Intensive counseling with an expert on quitting helps smokers set up measurable goals and methods. This is the best choice for highly addicted smokers who have tried stopping several times but never succeeded.

4. Alternative Method

There are various alternative therapies that can help smokers quit. This includes acupuncture, hypnosis, reiki and even yoga. This method is applicable for those with an on-and-off relationship with cigarettes.

Source: Various sources

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