Arif Hidayat still feels a measure of guilt. As a vendor of cigarettes on an impoverished back street in the Indonesian city of Bogor, Hidayat says he realized most of his buyers were men who could barely afford to feed their families…"Because Indonesians are Islamic, alcohol is less of a curse than in many countries," he explains. "Unfortunately, though, tobacco addiction inflicts huge damage on household incomes and health." That's been exacerbated by what Dr. Richard Hurt, director of the Nicotine Dependence Research Program at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, calls an "invasion" by international tobacco companies.
Tags: Alcohol and Tobacco, CMAJ, Dr. Richard Hurt, Indonesia, international tobacco companies, Mayo Clinic Rochester, Nicotine Dependence Center, Nicotine Dependence Research Program, tobacco