SMUGGLED cigarettes are smokers’ No. 1 choice because they are cheap. Generally, a pack of cigarettes will cost more than RM10 and this is heavy on the pocket if smokers smoke more than five packs a day.
Smuggled cigarettes help users get their fix at a low cost, but it’s more dangerous because some smuggled cigarettes contain more tar than nicotine.
But what is more worrying is that smuggled cigarettes can breed new smokers.
Smuggled cigarettes are not sold in the open, but smokers know how to get them.
It is known that smuggled cigarettes are sold in grocery stores where if people ask for a specific cigarette, the cashier will take out one from under the drawer.
Smuggled cigarettes are also packed under suspicious names like John, Concept or Zone King. Sometimes, they are sold per stick, depending on the brand.
Some shopowners do not ask teenagers to show their MyKad as proof they are above 18. Don’t shopowners know that they are breaking the law by selling to the underage?
I was buying bread at a grocery store when a few students trooped in to buy cigarettes. They asked the storeowner if he sold John merah (red). Later, I saw them smoking in an alley.
Please take action so that these youngsters can kick their smoking habit. The public can help, too, if they see students smoking. Go to the www.anti-rokokseludup.org website and report it.
We should do our part to stop the smoking habit among youngsters before they find that they have no control of their habit.
MUHAMMAD ASHLAH RAHMAN
Rawang, Selangor