Smoking 2-year-old kicks the habit

HEALTH - Ardi Rizal, a 2-year-old toddler in Indonesia has kicked his two packs-a-day smoking habit. His parents, concerned not out of health but because it was costing them $4 per day to support his cigarette addiction.

To kick the habit the 2-year-old spent a month in a rehab program run by Indonesia's National Commission for Child Protection plus a team of psychologists and doctors. While in rehab they worked to switch his addiction from cigarettes to playing with other children.

Ardi’s parents say he threw tantrums and hurt himself if he wasn’t allowed to smoke. His substance dependence first began when he started smoking when he was 18 months.

One-third of the population in Indonesia smokes. Activists against the rampant smoking of children argue its effectively genocide. The number of children that smoke in Indonesia is difficult to track but its estimated to be in the tens of thousands. Anti-smoking laws in Indonesia are non-existent and there has been horrible delays getting legislation passed in the country. Anti-smoking activists claim key government administrators have been bribed by the tobacco industry.

See Also
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Canada's Smoking Laws
Smokeless Cigarettes
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