We get more than enough earbashing about smoking day and night here, without bothering with smoking in Indonesia. People still smoking after all the hype from the quangos stealing our taxes are not going to take any notice. Enough of the Big Brother, thank you. I gave up smoking 25 years ago, without any help (read bullshite) from a few people in overpaid people on the public dollar. Compared to drinking and illicit drugs, smoking is nothing.

When the leaders smoke and see no problem with their habit? It's hard to win this argument! Perhaps when the smoking-related health bill quite massively exceeds tobacco revenue? They might realize, their addiction and stupidity is costing far more than mere money!
A fool never learns! And Indonesia is, quite frankly, full of them.
How many grieving widows and fatherless families, do they need, before they wake up to themselves, and stop being tobacco companies profit making puppets?
Light up another, Sucker!
Alan B.

Big Brother NOT to smoke?

It is better that smokers be suckers,

encouraged by Big Business financing Big Government Taxes to smoke.

Maybe arsenic should be added to tobacco to ensure death from smoking, since smoking does not ensure a swift end.

One surety of smoking though, is its ability to cripple the smoker and render them to a lifetime of unnecessary and debilitating suffering, mostly inches from the end.

Sad it is for Indonesians.

Don't smoke, don't drink, don't gamble, & didn't even mix with bad women all that much. What a goody goody two shoes I am.

I have had a few vices though. The fool tax payer paid & lot to teach me to fly, & let me go rushing all over the sky in a rather obsolete jet, but otherwise my vices have been rather expensive.

There were my Formula 2 Lotus & Brabham racing cars, one hell of an expensive hobby.

Then the yacht. I had to sell the Brabham & the business to pay for that, it's conversion from racer to cruiser & other such.

Then the horses. Show jumpers & eventers, none of this pretty stuff getting judged for me.

And now the old sports cars, not all that bad, if you can fix most of the oily bits yourself.

The point is I could never have afforded any of these, if I had been paying the huge tax burden imposed on those who's vices involve the common ones. I had to do things one at a time even then to afford them. I have tried to explain to my son, who would like to do the things I have, that he could if he just gave up all those things he enjoys so much.

As this old body gets more broken down each year, I know my vices have taken their toll. I can't help wondering if the wine women & song vices would have taken any greater toll, or been any more fun/satisfying. I will never know now, & really don't care too much. I have nothing to complain about.

However if smoking or grog gives anywhere as much pleasure as flying, racing, sailing or the like, my advice is do it. I'd hate to die rich, having led a safe & boring life. As a smoking mate says, "If smoking doesn't kill me, I'll live till I die".

Does this change Indonesian demographics? If 95% of their smokers are men, I'd expect that to result in men dying much earlier. And IIRC smoking is more harmful to Y sperm than to X sperm, so I'd expect it to also result in more girls being born than boys. Is that the case?