Indonesia’s cigarette rules a drag on business, snuff out culture, pro-tobacco activists say

According to the activists, cigarettes are the glue that bind societal ties in the archipelago. They are frequently given out during weddings and funerals in Java, and are even included in daily offerings to the Gods in the Hindu-majority island of Bali.

It is also said that the country’s traditional breakfast is a cup of coffee paired with a cigarette.

“Kretek is very close to our community, from Sabang to Merauke. It enters cultural niches,” Khoirul Atfifudin, spokesman of Kretek Community, which advocates for pro-tobacco policies, said. Kretek is an Indonesian signature cigarette, which blends tobacco with cloves, resulting in a sweet-tasting stick and thick haze when burned.

“We reject the tobacco-related articles in the latest health regulation, one of which contains a prohibition on selling retail cigarettes. We side with small vendors, because this ban will [hurt] them. We asked small shops their [opinions] on the ban on individual cigarette sales, and they disapproved of it.”

A pack of cigarettes now must contain at least 20 cigarettes, ultimately ending the sales of cheaper packs with 12 or 16 cigarettes.

The minimum purchase age has also been raised to 21 from 18. The new regulation does not include punishment or sanctions on vendors or producers that break the rules.

“Retail sales [could promote] products that are easily accessible to novice smokers, children and teenagers, whose consumption levels we really want to reduce,” Indah Febrianti, head of law division at the Ministry of Health, said in a statement on August 2.

Indonesia has one of the world’s highest smoking rates: out of a population of 270 million, 70 million were active smokers, according to the Indonesian Health Survey last year. Underage smoking also