KUALA LUMPUR: THE Health Ministry has warned that smoking illicit clove cigarettes, or kretek, is an offence for a number of reasons, besides being dangerous to one's health.
Possessing illicit cigarettes alone is an offence, but owning contraband kretek is especially so, as they also come in packs of less than 20 sticks, which is illegal in Malaysia.
Smuggled kretek pose a danger because there are no controls over their contents, which are subject to regulation in the country.
Thus, they can have higher levels of tar and nicotine, besides other chemicals normally found in cigarettes and those not usually found in tobacco products.
Contraband kretek may also be contaminated by other chemicals or non-tobacco products, which may have been smuggled in with them, said the ministry's Disease Control Division director, Dr Chong Chee Keong.
He said illicit kretek had unregulated substances and those who smoked it could be fined.
"It is an offence for anyone to sell, offer, buy or have in his possession any illicit cigarette," he told the New Straits Times.
Dr Chong said this was a new regulation that came into force under regulation 15(4A) of the Control of Tobacco Product Regulations 2004.
"Illicit kretek do not comply with the minimum price per pack and minimum number of sticks allowed to be sold in a pack, which is 20 sticks."
Among the most popular contraband cigarettes are kretek from brands like Gudang Garam, Surya and Nusantara, which are smuggled into the country regularly.
These illicit kretek have a tar level that go through the roof at 40mg per stick, which is way above the ministry's recommended tar-level ceiling of 15mg per stick.
The packs have no pictorial health warnings on them and do not comply with the law, as they are sold in packs of 12 or 16 sticks.
It is said that the higher tar and nicotine levels in illicit kretek make them more addictive, making it difficult for those who smoke them to kick the habit.
