ELECTION 99
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

Why Ganesh bidis Were Banned

R S Shankar in San Francisco

The ban on Mangalore Ganesh bidis, ostensibly because child labor was used to produce them, is a footnote in the on-going crusade against tobacco across America.

When the ban was announced a few days ago following the broadcast of a 60 Minutes II segment alleging that the company uses forced child labor in the manufacture of its bidis. The US Customs is conducting its own study and the ban will stay unless the study came to a different conclusion other than the CBS report.

The program included a videotape of "apparently indentured children" making bidis for Mangalore Ganesh Beedi Works, Customs officials said.

"The use of forced, convict or bonded labor, especially the forced labor of children, is morally, ethically and legally wrong," said Customs Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

The fight against the widespread use of bidis by teenagers began in California in May when a study funded by the San Francisco Anti-Smoking Project found that bidis were sold by scores of shops without age identification. The study also found that Ganesh bidis were hugely popular.

Fifty-eight per cent of high school students in San Francisco have tried them and 31 per cent smoke them at least once a month, according to a survey by the city's Booker T Washington Community Service Center.

Seven of 10 packs purchased last year contained no warning labels, according to the San Francisco survey, which tracked down about 100 retail outlets. About 40 per cent of the bidis bought did not contain tax-paid stamps. This was a key reason why they cost less than regular cigarettes in many urban markets.

Authorities also say that bidis are being advertised on the Internet.

This year the number of bidi requests from retailers has increased 500 per cent, Shawn Ulizio, director of sales and marketing at California-based importer Kretek International, told reporters a few months ago.

Though no statistics are available on the use of bidis, published reports suggest they formed a small portion of tobacco used by teenagers.

But what alarmed Senator Dick Durbin (Democrat, Illinois) and other critics of the tobacco industry, and bidis in particular, was that it was becoming increasingly hip to smoke bidis.

Many teenagers thought bidis did not cause cancer or other health risks.

"People need to be aware of the health risks," says Samira Asma, an epidemiologist at the Atlanta-based US Center for Disease Control and Prevention. "This is something really harmful. It's addictive."

Asma also says there are "misconceptions" about bidis, because they look herbal and are sold in many health stores. But she warns that studies in India show they pose greater risks for throat, mouth and lung cancer than do regular cigarettes.

While Durbin and other American lawmakers wanted strict regulation on the import of bidis, critics of the American tobacco industry said that America was dumping cigarettes in developing nation and American politicians were oblivious to the fact that teens were becoming addicted to cigarettes from America.

"Does anyone care about how many billions the tobacco companies in America make by exporting the cigarettes abroad," asked Ric Ornellas, former culture editor of the Washington Square News.

Among the leading bidi importers in America are Kretek International, Colorado-based Quintin USA Inc and California-based Smokers Choice.

Kretek sells about 300,000 cartons of bidis each year, 10 times as many as three years ago but still a small fraction of the company's total tobacco sales, the Associated Press reported.

The San Francisco Project, which was assisted by many teens posing as customers, also found that many bidis were sold as health products.

But as the San Francisco Project found, and later confirmed by CDC, bidis were far more potent than cigarettes since they contained four to seven times the nicotine of regular American cigarettes but with no filter. Flavors such as strawberry, chocolate and vanilla boosted their appeal.

The report on the San Francisco Project which appeared in the San Francisco Examiner in May caught the attention of anti-tobacco organizations which began alerting members of the Congress. Among the first to pay attention to the complaint was Durbin.

Soon there were reports from handful of states, including Massachusetts and Florida, that bidi smoking among teens was on the rise. Citing the fear of an increase in the use of bidis, Arizona prohibited teens using them. Though tobacco in Arizona is denied to teens (as in all other American states), the explicit ban resulted from the wrong notions many teens had about the bidis.

A Massachusetts study that surveyed 642 Massachusetts' urban youth found that 40 per cent reported smoking bidis in their lifetime, 16 per cent reported smoking bidis at least once in the past 30 days, and eight per cent smoked 100 or more bidis in their lifetime, according to CDC. Current bidis use by race/ethnicity was 21 per cent for Hispanic students compared to 14 per cent for African American and 11 per cent for white students.

The study also found that nearly one of five male students (19 per cent) and one of 10 female students (12 per cent) reported using bidis at least once in the past month.

Asked why they use bidis instead of cigarettes, 23 per cent said they smoke bidis because of the "taste", 18 per cent said it is because bidis are "cheaper", 13 per cent felt bidis are "safer" than cigarettes, and 12 per cent felt they are "easier to buy" than cigarettes.

Senator Richard Durbin's letter to the FDA

EARLIER REPORT/FEATURE:

US bans Karnataka firm's bidis

California Teenagers Target Bidis, Get Backing Of Influential Congressman

Previous: Hum Saath Crosses $ 2.5 m Mark Abroad

Next: Deepak Hathiramani's Simple Secret

Tell us what you think of this report