Indonesia - addicted to nicotine at the age of two..

March 23, 2010 - First it was a 4-yr old and now it's a 2-yr old addicted to cigarettes.

Mohammad Rizal, from the Southeast Asian country's Musi Banyuasin province, said his son Rizal is hooked on tobacco after having his first cigarette at just 18 months old. But Rizal said he is unfazed by his son's smoking habit. "I'm not worried about his health -- he looks healthy," he said. "He cries and throws tantrums when we don't let him smoke. He's addicted."

Indonesia has a major problem with child smokers -- 25 percent of three to 15-year-olds smoked at least once according to the Central Statistics Agency. (Indonesia - paradise for smokers and paradise for tobacco companies..)

Seto Mulyadi, chairman of Indonesia's child protection commission, said parents who smoke and aggressive advertising are responsible for the rise in the number of child smokers, ANI reported. "A law to protect children and passive smokers should be introduced immediately in this country," Mulyadi said.

References: Two-Year-Old Boy Hooked on Cigarettes, Father Claims; Kid hooked on cigarettes at the age of 2, The Sun, 5/22/2010.

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