Ardi Rizal, from Musi Bayuasin, South Sumatra, Indonesia was smoking two packets of cigarettes per day. He became addicted to nicotine in tobacco after his father had given him a cigarette. According to his parents, his addiction became so bad that he would throw violent tantrums if they did not give him a cigarette.
The National Commission for Child Protection, Indonesia, says the boy has quit smoking and no longer asks for or craves cigarettes. He underwent intensive therapy – 1-month rehab – in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital.
There have been complaints that Indonesia does not do enough to regulate the tobacco industry.
An online video (below) surprised viewers when they saw the 60-pound, 30-month old boy, who had started smoking when he was 11 months old. He could be seen puffing away on a cigarette. He even knew how to blow smoke rings.
A spokesperson for the National Commission on Child Protection told AFP that the child received psychosocial therapy for a month; therapists kept his mind on activities, encouraging him to play with children of the same age. They diverted his addiction from tobacco to playing. His mother was also given parenting classes.
According to some Indonesian media sources, the father was not too concerned about Rizal’s smoking, commenting that the child was quite healthy.
Tobacco smoking is a practice in which tobacco is burned and the smoke inhaled or tasted. Smoking is primarily practiced as a route of administration for nicotine through the lungs; it is a way of getting nicotine into your system rapidly.
The most popular current method of smoking is through cigarettes, mainly industrially manufactured ones. Some people use hand-rolled loose tobacco, while others smoke pipes, cigars or hookahs.
Over one billion people globally smoke tobacco regularly.
USA statistics – according to the American Heart Association, 23.1% of men (24.8 million) and 18.3% of women (21.1 million) are smokers. According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) an estimated total of 443,000 deaths occur every year in the USA from cigarette smoking – almost 1 in every 5 deaths. That is more deaths than the combined total from HIV, illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides and murders.
UK statistics – according to the National Health Service (NHS), UK, about one quarter of the adult population of the UK smokes (20 million people). 25% of British men and 23% of British women smoke. Smoking is the biggest cause of illness and death in the UK, causing 114,000 smokers to die annually. The NHS adds that approximately 70% of smokers would like to stop, but most think they are not able to. About half of all British smokers eventually manage to stop.
People’s view of smoking has varied over time, from being a vulgar habit, a sophisticated pastime, to a deadly health hazard. Over the last three decades of the twentieth century, mainly in industrialized countries, smoking became increasingly viewed as an undesirable activity that is bad for the health – a practice that kills. We now know that smoking is one of the leading causes of many diseases, such as heart attacks, erectile dysfunction (male impotence), and lung cancer. Consequently, several nations have significantly increased taxes on tobacco products and regularly launch anti-smoking campaigns.
Many countries have introduced legislation over the last three decades banning smoking in shops, restaurants, pubs and bars, public places, etc. Not that many decades ago movie theaters (cinemas) in England used to have smoking and non-smoking sections. A significant number of young people are not aware that smoking was common in commercial airplanes.
Nicotine dependence is an addiction to tobacco products caused by one of its ingredients – the drug nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive drug which causes mood-altering changes in the brain which are temporarily pleasing, making people want to use it more and more.
When a person is addicted to nicotine they have unpleasant withdrawal symptoms, which temporarily go away when they receive the nicotine through smoking tobacco. Experts say that nicotine is one of the hardest of all addictions to break.
Put simply – nicotine dependence means the individual cannot stop using the substance.
Unfortunately, while the smoker is addicted to the nicotine, they consume thousands of toxic substances present in tobacco smoke in order to get their fix.