‘Smoking toddler’ kicked habit, but thousands more addicted

Indonesia considered the ‘Wild West’ of tobacco regulation

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>>> smoking cigarettes. mara has details on that.

>> though he can barely speak, he knows how to ask for cigarettes. when news of this smoking habit broke, government officials rushed to help. unfortunately he's not that country's only child smoker struggling with addiction. while this may look like home video of child play, it's anything but fun and games . this 2-year-old is in addiction rehab in jakarta, indonesia and if he looks familiar, there's a reason. this spring he became a viral video sensation when clips of him chain smoking hit the web. the jovial toddler started puppingpup i puffing away at only 11 months old.

>> the first day he smoked half a pack.

>> within five months, he was up to four packs a day.

>> i was confused, how could my child be smoking? he was still a little boy .

>> i didn't know how to make him stop.

>> reporter: turns out he needed professional help. embarrassed local government officials stepped in, flyi iing him to jakarta, there he wept through five weeks of intensive treatment with the national commission for child protection , tobacco rehab for a 2-year-old. he quit cold turkey and received daily play therapy trading tobacco for toys.

>> i'm really happy, i'm so excited. my child behaves like other kids.

>> reporter: he's rediscovering his childhood, but for so many other indonesian kids who haven't become internet sensations, theirs is going up in smoke. the government here estimates 25% of indonesian children over the age of 3 have tried cigarettes and more than 3% are regular smokers. i feel good when i smoke, says this 9-year-old, he started last year when a friend gave him a cigarette. for some, it's a family affair. this 5-year-old kindergartner, his smoking buddy, mom. indonesia is the world's third largest tobacco consumer and kids have no trouble finding a fix.

>> we're going to give her money, send her into the store and see if she can buy cigarettes and she will not be smoking or keeping any of them. less than three minutes later, she returned, cigarettes in hand. in many ways, indonesia is a haven for cigarette companies. there are virtually no restrictions on tobacco advertising whether it's tv or in print. and sometimes it seems like the marketing is almost targeted toward children. and then there's the sponsorships. tobacco companies fund hundreds of events each year, including concerts like the recent one featuring smashing pumpkins and sporting events . the biggest player in indonesia , american company philip morris .

>> does the company take responsibility for the problem?

>> i don't know how we can, where we can come in is by advocating much stronger regulations.

>> reporter: the company has been pushing for new laws for five years.

>> we don't want kids to smoke.

>> reporter: yet they are, and can't seem to quit if you want to stop, why don't you? later he says, tomorrow. and even after five weeks of treatment, aldie struggles with kicking the habit.

>> he still asks me for cigarettes, he'll say, mom, i want a cigarette.

>> reporter: one of indonesia 's many small children battling a big addiction. now, matt, these are some of the packs of cigarettes that we found in indonesia and packaging like this would be illegal in the u.s. the indonesian government is doing some things to fight smoking, they called for an expansion of smoke free zones, restriction of cigarette ads. but more than a year later, none of those measures has been implemented.

Show transcript

By Mara Schiavocampo, NBC News correspondent

TODAY

updated 11/5/2010 9:28:02 AM ET

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Correspondent's notebook

Aldi Rizal can barely speak, but he knows how to ask for a cigarette.

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The 2-year-old Indonesian boy is best known as "the smoking toddler," a moniker he earned when video of him chain-smoking cigarettes hit the Web this spring, shocking viewers all over the world.

So where does this story stand six months later? Well, there's good news and bad. The good: Aldi has since been to rehab and kicked the habit. The bad: There are countless other kids out there, just like him.

I traveled to Indonesia to meet Aldi a few weeks ago. His family lives in a small fishing village in a remote region on the island of Sumatra. It took me 41 hours to get there, flying from New York to Jakarta and driving through rubber tree plantations.

We met up with Aldi in the market before heading to his home. He's a local celebrity — as he walked through the stalls we heard lots of people calling his name, "Aldi, Aldi!" A crowd gathered around him when he stopped to eat. But Aldi's famous for all the wrong reasons. The toddler started smoking when he was 11 months old — and within five months he was up to four packs per day.

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When Aldi's smoking video went viral, local government officials reached out to help, paying his way to the capital city of Jakarta where he received five weeks of intensive treatment with the National Commission for Child Protection. Aldi had to quit cold turkey, and his mother says he threw terrible tantrums. The nicotine withdrawal must have been brutal for the little guy. But he got through it and started play therapy, where he could focus on just being a kid.

Sadly, Aldi's not the only smoking kid in Indonesia. The south Asian country has one of the worst problems with child smokers in the world. Government figures estimate that 25 percent of kids over the age of 3 have tried cigarettes and 3 percent are regular smokers. That means some kids are lighting up before they even start school.

Story: Dad says smoking toddler is ‘addicted’

My team had no trouble finding smoking kids in Jakarta. We came across a group sitting near a river bank enjoying an after school cigarette break. One of the kids, 9-year-old Ipan, has been smoking for a year. "I feel good when I smoke", he told me.

Another child, 5-year-old Cipto, says his mother smokes with him.

So why is this happening? Mainly because of a lack of regulation. While I was doing research for this story, one of my contacts described Indonesia as the "Wild West" of tobacco regulation. There are virtually no restrictions on cigarette advertising on TV, radio, in print or on billboards.

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Tobacco companies sponsor all kinds of cool things believed to appeal to kids and teens, from sporting events to music concerts. Cigarettes are cheap — about $1 per pack — and easy to buy. We saw a 10-year-old walk right into a store and simply buy them, no questions asked.

The largest tobacco company in Indonesia is American-owned Philip Morris. For this story I spoke with their External Communications Director, Anne Edwards, about the problem. She said Philip Morris doesn't want kids to smoke, they only want to lure adult smokers from their competitors. She also said that the company supports stronger regulations and restrictions in Indonesia. She seemed genuinely disturbed by the footage I showed her, some of which

For its part, the Indonesian government passed a health law in 2009, with some good elements of tobacco control. But a year later, the measures haven't been implemented yet.

Aldi continues to be smoke free, though he's gained a whopping 13 pounds since quitting. He still has cravings, but is managing them.

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