Vapeboss – The Omnibus Health Bill had caused controversy and received criticism from many parties. The discussion process for the Health Omnibus Law Bill sparked public debate, one of which was the article equating narcotics with tobacco products in one category.

A member of the House of Representatives Legislation Body (Baleg), Firman Soebagyo, requested that provisions equating tobacco with narcotics and psychotropics in the Health Bill be removed. The reason is that these provisions would eliminate the tobacco product industry and deprive its workers of their livelihoods.

“These provisions must be removed because they do not meet the sense of justice. Tobacco is a legal product. As a people's representative, whose region has many tobacco industries and farmers, I have an obligation to convey to the state and the government that these provisions should be removed,” he explained.

On the other hand, member of Commission IX of the House of Representatives, Muhammad Yahya Zaini, suggested separate regulations for narcotics and tobacco, including e-cigarettes as one of their derivative products.

“Indeed, the Bill mentions that derivative products of tobacco include e-cigarettes, which are categorized as dangerous substances. We will separate them in more detail later; if the parent tobacco product is removed from the Bill, e-cigarettes will follow. The regulations must be different because the risks are indeed smaller,” he said.

Yahya revealed that the tobacco industry has been an integral part of Indonesia's history and culture for more than a hundred years. Moreover, not only from the perspective of state revenue, but the tobacco sector also has a positive impact as it is one of the largest providers of employment in Indonesia.

“Because this industry greatly helps state finances and involves many workers, we will try to discuss with like-minded faction members so that this issue can be revoked,” Yahya explained.

If enacted, the Bill would suppress the tobacco industry, which is one of the largest contributors to the national economy, both directly, such as excise revenue, and indirectly through labor absorption. If this health regulation is legalized, Firman estimates that more than 5 million workers in the tobacco product industry would lose their jobs. This does not include workers in supporting industries such as distribution, retail, creative, advertising, and MSMEs.

The Chairman of the Indonesian Policy Analyst Association (AAKI), Trubus Rahardiansyah, also stated that this policy would have a negative impact on the tobacco sector, which continues to grow and contribute to Indonesia every day.

"In a policy and regulation, protection is paramount, and the government should provide protection for other tobacco sectors (e-cigarettes, heated tobacco, chewing tobacco, etc.) so that this proven sector can grow and develop," he concluded.

In fact, there is already a final and binding Constitutional Court decision explaining that tobacco addiction is different from narcotics and psychotropics. Thus, these products cannot be equated.

Source: Jawapos