Indonesia was the 5th (fifth) largest cigarette consumer country in 2004 (US Department of

Agriculture. World's Leading Un-manufactured Tobacco Producing, Trading and Consuming

Countries, 2004). Ranked 5th (fifth) in the world, Indonesia is one of the potential markets for the
cigarette industry, and it is not surprising that in Indonesia there are more than 3,000 local and
national scale cigarette factories, this number is registered with the Ministry of Industry, not to
mention home industries that not listed. In fact, many foreign investors have entered Indonesia
by investing their businesses in the cigarette industry, because Indonesia is one of the countries
that has quite high market potential without being limited by a person's social status. The
smoking phenomenon or trend in Indonesia is increasingly being indulged in by the state, and is
the only country which has not ratified the FCTC and does not yet have comprehensive
regulations to regulate the distribution and production of tobacco for the cigarette industry
except only regulations regarding cigarette excise.
Cigarettes and health
Indonesia is a smoker's paradise and according to WHO estimates, the situation will get worse in
the next 10 years. In its annual report, the UN health agency noted that currently 36% of
Indonesia's population smokes, or more than 60 million people. Report WHO is in line with the
University of Indonesia study published last June.
In this research, Ul found that every day around 500 people die from smoking.
Data from 2010 shows that the number of lives lost due to tobacco smoke in Indonesia reached
190,260 people. The smoking community is basically aware that tobacco used as cigarettes is a
potential source of disease and is detrimental to personal and health surrounding environment.
This is natural if cigarettes are a potential source human disease, because cigarettes contain
4,000 kinds of substances that are harmful to the body humans, one of which we often hear and
read on cigarette packs is TAR. A substance used to mix road asphalt. not only frequent TAR
As we have heard, in one cigarette there are also several substances that are often used we hear,
for example, nicotine (pesticide content), ammonia (floor cleaner content), carbon monoxide
(poisonous gas), formaldehyde (corpse preservative), arsenic (rat poison), cadmium (battery
powder), and others. With this very dangerous content, cigarettes are not only dangerous for the
person the inhaler, but also for people who accidentally inhale the smoke (passive smoke) from
the cigarette smoked by the smoker, the impact will be even more dangerous for passive smokers
rather than the smokers themselves. This is because passive smokers do not directly inhales the
smoke, but what it inhales is waste smoke from the smoke smokers, especially if those who
inhale the smoke are children who are vulnerable to all forms of disease in themselves and their
bodies.
Based on the results of the 2001 National Health Survey Mortality study, it was stated that in
Indonesia, smoking increased the risk of death for chronic disease sufferers to
1.30-8.17 times greater. On the other hand, in 2005 the health costs incurred by Indonesia due to
tobacco-related diseases reaching 18.1 billion USD or 5.1 times income country from tobacco
excise in the same year (Kosen, S. 2007 Indonesia Report Card).
Various kinds of diseases haunt smokers, both active and passive smokers very terrible. This can
be seen in various potential diseases such as various types of cancer, lung disease, hypertension,
ischemic heart disease, stroke, potential blindness , reproductive and fertility disorders, and so
on, making smoking one of the Legal products are dangerous for those who consume them.
Cigarettes and Poverty
The cigarette industry and smoking behavior in society in socio-economic aspects cannot be
separated from a poverty perspective. In the production aspect, many factors or elements are
involved in this aspect, including factory owners (financiers), employees/laborers, tobacco
farmers and even cigarette sellers on the side of the road. This can be observed in 2008, the
production and distribution of cigarettes in Indonesia amounted to 250 billion cigarettes (source:
Global Tobacco Control Report, 2008).
Based on these facts and data, if calculated in layman's terms, of the 250 billion cigarettes in
Indonesia, the potential circulation of money just for cigarette consumption is IDR 125 trillion
(assuming 1 (one) cigarette costs 500 rupiah), compared with the 2010 State Expenditure Budget
the budget for the health sector is only + IDR 18 trillion, also for the social assistance sector
which is only # IDR 64.2 trillion, as well as the budget for the field of social protection only # IDR
3.4 trillion.
This means that the potential for impoverishment of the Indonesian people is wide open, how
could it not be !! The state budget for improving the quality of society, both socially, economically
and health, is being defeated by the circulation of cigarettes being bought and sold in Indonesia
without any regulatory protection for its citizens. On the other hand, based on the results of the
author's hangout at scavenger community on the outskirts of Jakarta, 10 (ten) people, 4 of whom
are children around 15 years old who were chatted with in a coffee shop, are smokers and they
spend an average of 6-12 cigarettes/day, if converted into rupiah in a day they spend 6 thousand -
9 thousand rupiah/day, while their daily income is between 15 thousand-20 thousand
rupiahVday. This means that 40-45% of their total income is used to consume cigarettes.
This causes the family's basic needs to be often neglected, we imagine that 6 thousand
-9 thousand rupiah is actually very meaningful for them for daily survival. Because they are
already addicted and addicted to cigarettes and it is very difficult for them to stop smoking and
are deceived by the suggestions of cigarette advertisements that spread without limits, in the
end they sacrifice the quality of life for themselves and their families. Often they are caught
between cigarette consumption and their basic needs when faced with the amount of their
income. Likewise, when the author invited several workers from a large cigarette industry in the
East Java region to chat in mid-2009, he discovered that 40-50% of their income was spent on
consuming cigarettes, which in fact means they struggle with the smell of tobacco and cigarettes
every day.
What was even more surprising was that when I was on Eid holiday in 2009, I found that tobacco
workers/farmers complained that the price of tobacco was often manipulated by middlemen and
the cigarette industry, so that the tobacco which they thought was a superior product and their
hope for the welfare of their families was not realized because the price of tobacco was
determined. the cigarette industry and the absence of clear and firm. price regulations. This is
made worse by the fact that Indonesia is a country that still imports tobacco, in 2006 Indonesia
imported a value of 47.2 download million USD, this means it is higher than the value of
Indonesia's tobacco exports (Source: Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture).