"Today, people`s expenditures on smoking have become a burden on their household economies and are sacrificing expenditures on other far more important things such as health and education. People`s spending on smoking has exceeded the limits of rationality." Abdillah Ahsan, a researcher at the Demography Institute of the University of Indonesia (UI)`s Economic Faculty, said here Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters at the launching of a People`s Caucus Against Addictives, Abdillah cited a concrete example of people`s spending on tobacco.
"If a man smokes one pack per day and one pack costs Rp10,000.- it means he spends Rp300,000 per month or Rp3.6 million per year on the habit," said Abdillah.
So at the rate of one pack of cigarettes per day, a man will burn up Rp36 million in 10 years or more than the cost to make the hajj pilgrimage, a downpayment on a house, or the cost of letting a child enjoy a university education. "This means , in essence, people choose smoking above health or education," he said.
According to Abdillah, people spend six times more money on cigarettes than on education and five times more than on healthy foods such as milk, and healthcare.
He said there were several ways the government could take to reduce the people`s addiction to tobacco. "One of the most effective ways is to adopt a policy to halt cigarette advertisements," he said.
Cigarette ads, especially those shown on television, were giving the public a wrong perception of smoking.
"The ads associate smoking with masculinity, modern living, and even with sportamanship whereas it is in reality an insiduous killer," Abdillah said. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
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