By DayakDaily Team
SMOKING has been a topic of constant debate ever since tobacco companies rolled out their first packets of cigarettes.
Despite widespread awareness of its health and environmental risks, the burning question is why people continue to smoke.
Factors and circumstances also contribute to the smoking habit, including easy access to alkaloid substance, social influences and peer pressure.
Smoking and tobacco use are particularly prevalent in rural areas. A national health and morbidity survey conducted in 2019 by the Health Ministry found tobacco use in rural areas at 25.4 pe rcent compared to 20.1 per cent in urban areas. Cigarettes use is also higher in rural areas (24.9 per cent) than urban areas (19.6 per cent).
Why smoke?
For most people, smoking is usually a deliberate personal choice, whether it be influenced by curiosity or peer pressure. However, for 55-year-old Watson N, an Iban from Sri Aman, neither of those factors led him to light up the cigarette. Back in the days before tobacco advertising was banned, he was swayed by celebrities portraying smoking as stylish and glamorous. He was 17 years old at the time and he hasn’t stopped smoking since.
For some, smoking can also provide a placid sense of routine and relaxation. Whether it’s the first cigarette of the day or one lit up during an after-meal break; to these smokers, the habit creates a structured rhythm for their day, engendering a relaxing ambience.
Peter M, a 38-year-old Bidayuh from Bau, picked up the habit while hanging out with friends, saying apart from the socialising aspect, smoking also helped him cope with stress during his university days.
“Before, it was just something fun to do with friends. Then I found it helped me destress while I was studying at varsity. I began to smoke more when I started to work.”
Peter tried several times to kick the habit but each time, he felt a profound sense of anxiety to fill the void left by curtailment of his smoking routine.
Rampant illicit cigarettes
Easy access to illicit cigarettes has also enabled habitual smokers to get their regular nicotine fix. Based on a May 2021 report, commissioned by affiliates of the Confederation of Malaysian Tobacco Manufacturers (CMTM) in conjunction with an Illicit Cigarettes Study (ICS) in Malaysia, the total number of incidences involving illegal cigarettes in Sarawak stood at a whopping 83.4 per cent above the overall purchases of cigarettes. At RM3.50 per packet, just a quarter of legal brand prices, it is no surprise most smokers in Sarawak turn to illicit cigarettes – despite its many risks.
Soon C, a Chinese from Kanowit, used to smoke legally imported cigarettes before losing his job and was subsequently forced to use illicit cigarettes.
“I don’t know where these cigarettes come from – whether manufactured by neighbouring countries or smuggled into Sarawak – but they are all I can afford, so I use them. When the craving comes and you don’t have money, who cares about what these cigarettes are made from.”
Similarly, due to financial constraints and being equally clueless on the contents of illicit cigarettes, Christopher L from Sri Aman opted to smoke the cheaper uncustomed brands for a year just to cut costs.
“I stopped because they (illicit cigarettes) tasted like paper – there was no tobacco taste at all.”
What then are illicit cigarettes made from?
According to studies posted by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), smoke from illicit cigarettes can contain up to five times the amount of cadmium, six times as much lead, 160 per cent more tar and 133 per cent more carbon monoxide in comparison to legal cigarettes.
To make matters worse, counterfeit cigarettes, recently intercepted by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Border Integrity Unit, were found to contain revolting ingredients such as human faeces, dead flies, mould and insect eggs.
This shocking discovery was supported by the London Tobacco Alliance in a 2023 report titled “Identifying and Reporting Illegal Tobacco.” Further research on counterfeit cigarettes and tobacco pouches has also found among their contents are high levels of toxic metals such as arsenic, mercury and lead. Other substances from the analysis of fake cigarettes included traces of weedkiller, sawdust and animal faeces.
Beyond their harmful, unregulated contents, sales of illegal cigarettes can be detrimental to the economy as well. Latest studies have found that six out of 10 cigarettes sold in Malaysia are illegal, resulting in the loss of over RM5 billion in uncollected excise tax annually.
Public health concerns
It is a factual that the smoke released from burning tobacco causes smoking-related diseases. However, the prevalence of illicit cigarette-use in Sarawak is an even greater concern due to its higher toxic content level. This poses a pertinent question – do smokers have a viable alternative?
In recent years, the use of vapes, e-cigarettes, and heated tobacco products has surged. The mass production of vapes and e-cigarettes has made these products more accessible than traditional cigarettes. Meanwhile, heated tobacco products, such as the I-Quit-Ordinary-Smoking (IQOS)—which heats tobacco rather than burning it—received marketing authorisation as modified risk tobacco products (MRTPs) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2020.
Mitch Zeller, J.D., Director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, stated, “Through the modified risk tobacco product application process, the FDA aims to ensure that information directed at consumers about reduced risk or reduced exposure from using a tobacco product is supported by scientific evidence and understandable.”
Jacek Olczak, CEO of Philip Morris International, welcomed the FDA’s authorization of IQOS, noting in a LinkedIn post, “This is a historic moment for us and for millions of adult smokers in America and beyond, as it demonstrates that IQOS is fundamentally different from cigarettes.”
Countries such as the UK and Japan have embarked on a journey to encourage smokers to switch to these regulated and scientifically-backed alternatives. In these countries, information on alternatives is made readily available and are supported by the government. Consumers need to be educated for them to be able to make informed decisions on their consumption habits. —DayakDaily
