The Public Policy
Clove Encounters
Indonesia ends up victimized by an eerie tobacco war that's protecting U.S. growers.
WASHINGTON — The clove cigarette has become something of a cliche. With its dark wrapper and strong, peculiar — and, to many, sickening — smell, it’s best known as the prop de rigueur of sullen, artistic-leaning college kids and people who read too many vampire novels. Recently, however, it has taken on a new role: center of an international trade feud.
Legislation in the U.S. Senate would ban cloves, along with several other flavored cigarette varieties, under the mantra so oft-used to ban things these days: protecting the children. The measure — part of a broader tobacco regulation bill granting the Food and Drug Administration the power to regulate tobacco products — has ignited controversy with the government of Indonesia, which claims the proposed ban represents a “serious trade issue” and has threatened to file a formal challenge with the World Trade Organization should the bill become law.
“If the legislation has the effect of only or primarily banning Indonesian cigarettes…then there could be a case that the bill is targeted at Indonesia,” says Daniel Ikenson, associate director of the Center for Trade Policy Studies at the Cato Institute.
Made from a mix of tobacco and clove leaves, clove cigarettes — or kreteks, as they are known in Indonesia — are a major Indonesian export to the United States. In 2006, Indonesia made more than 99 percent of the clove cigarettes imported by the U.S., to the tune of $10.28 million. Indonesia is home to more than 500 kretek manufacturers (including leading brands Sampoerna and Djarum), and the kretek industry is the country’s largest employer.
The Indonesian government called the proposed ban “discriminatory and protectionist,” claiming kreteks are more similar to menthol cigarettes, which are specifically exempted from the ban, than to other flavored varieties. It claims “no scientific evidence…has been produced to show the specific health risks of clove cigarette that would warrant banning this cigarette, but not menthol.” Unlike clove cigarettes, however, most menthol cigarettes are manufactured in the U.S.
This apparent discrepancy in treatment of foreign and domestic cigarettes has left legislators scrambling to refute Indonesia’s not-entirely-unreasonable charges of “disguised protectionism.”
Melissa Wagoner, press secretary for Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass. (who introduced the measure in the Senate), offers a strangely Orwellian rationalization: banning menthol smoking will actually harm menthol smokers!
“Menthol cigarettes have been on the market for decades and a substantial number of smokers have developed a dependency on them,” says Wagoner. Were menthols banned, these smokers might turn to “illicit, black market tobacco products that are even more dangerous to their health,” she explains.
Meanwhile, Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) insists the discrepancy is protectionism — for the ever-villainous “Big Tobacco,” which dares suggest it’s in business to make a profit and should therefore sell whatever products (legal, adult) consumers like best.
But “unscrupulous tobacco companies” use “flavors like clove” to lure teenagers into smoking, says Senator Enzi, who is, at least, consistent: this putative small-government conservative champions banning both cloves and menthols.
SENATOR ENZI SHOULD CHECK the data about teen clove smoking, though: According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, clove cigarettes make up only a small percentage of teen and tween tobacco use. The 2004 National Youth Tobacco Survey found that among high school students, cloves accounted for only 2.3 percent of tobacco use, with regular cigarettes accounting for 22.3 percent, followed by cigars (12.8 percent), smokeless tobacco (6.0 percent), pipes (3 percent) and bidis (2.6 percent). Among middle school students, cloves made up just 1.5 percent of tobacco use (in comparison with 8.1 percent for regular cigarettes and 5.2 percent for cigars).
The Specialty Tobacco Council points out that cloves generally cost more than regular cigarettes and are typically sold only in high-end tobacco shops, making them less attractive and available to minors. If legislators are really in this to protect the children, a ban on menthols — which are more easily accessible, possibly harder to quit, and which several studies have shown to be popular among teens (especially low-income African American teens) — would at least make more sense.
But “unlike other flavorings, menthol cigarettes constitute a major share —about 27 percent — of the [U.S.] market,” says Wagoner, a statement laughably antithetical to her assertions that ban decisions are based solely on health-and-welfare of smokers rationale.
“It seems…this [is] feel-good, do-nothing legislation that’s typical of Congress these days,” says David Harsanyi, Denver Post columnist and author of Nanny State.
Unsurprisingly, the measure has “strong bipartisan support,” according to Wagoner. “It is widely expected to be enacted in this Congress.”
Letter to the Editor View all comments (11) | Leave a comment
Related Articles
More Articles From The Public Policy
http://spectator.org/archives/2007/10/31/clove-encounters
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
SPONSORED LINKS
FLASHBACK TO: 1995
-
Pope Culture
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
-
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
-
Dames at Sea
-
In the Absence of Guns
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
-
The Metaphysical Martini
-
Counting the Costs of Clintonism
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
-
Chuck McHagel
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
-
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted
-
It’s the Best Time of the Year
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
-
The Bush Crack-Up
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?
Clip of the Day
ADVERTISEMENT
Pingback| 6.25.09 @ 10:03AM
Tobacco Bill Rant « Elizabeth Nolan Brown links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
PeggySue| 8.2.09 @ 6:56PM
I am 45 years old and I have never smoked anything but Djarum Bali Hai. So, if all of us who smoke cloves-- with the same needs as "regular" smokers-- don't count, then why do the "regular" smokers get to enjoy their habit? They'd go nuts if their cigs were banned, well, guess what! we will too! it's the sellers' faults that children get them, not the smokers'. Why not make a higher penalty for the sale to persons underage! The "kids" will just get the "regular" cigs anyway then because they aren't grown adults as committed to their indulgence. Wow. this is just all wrong!
hey! while they’re at it (banning cloves etc) — why not ban the sale of candy since it holds a higher statistical value that candy has been proven bad for your health at any age — oh my — and if it's for the protection of america's children then law-abiding families must be abusing their children by lavishing this unhealthy way of life on them, right? oh — government, would you mind ‘getting REAL’ !!!
Djarum Dave| 8.4.09 @ 12:27PM
Have I lost my right to choose as an american what I put in to my body? Will you tell me next I can't have starbucks? Why can all cigarettes just be sold in cartons or make a register of clove smokers so us adults and those of indo-american culture can enjoy the kreteks of their home land via mail order so we don't all become criminals and import cloves illegally after the 1st of september. Why not let clove smokers register and mail order their poison or just sell all cigarettes by the carton. This is a violation of constitutional rights. If you ban my cloves then ban obama's menthols. They are way more attractive to kids since everyone wants to be a rapper. My best friend from indonesia.. You just took a huge part of his culture away and now he will be a criminal who has them shipped from his family. Just today we were honest business men and now we count the days until we are criminal clove importers. Now that obama banned my cloves and I have to order them like a criminal! I wonder if Obama would sign a ban that included his cigarettes now that I am scrambling to get a bunch of djarums shipped before september 1st and find a resource to get them after the ban. These cigarettes are $8 a pack and $70 a carton. Why don't we sell flavored (or all cigarettes) in cartons? Then only smokers who are dedicated can buy them, children and the poor people who can afford a single packs but not health care will have to quit. I thought I lived in america, a free country. Where as an adult I have the priveledge to make a decision if I want flavored tobacco or flavored liquor. Flavored liquor is way more desirable to teenagers than flavored cigarettes. Flavored cigarettes are not affordable but any kid can get flavored liquor for a few dollars. We already have a law that prevnts minors from smoking, it is really the obligation of the parent. Not the government. Surely we wouldn't ban menthol or whatever brand Obama smokes anytime soon. These cigarettes I have been legally smoking since college are now illegal. I may as well smoke pot, they'll legalize that and tax it but won't let me enjoy a clove with my coffee. These guys get $210 a month from me for a pack of djarums a day and $2500 a year. Kids can't afford that. Middle class men and women can barely swing that. Especially these day, kids don't really smoke like they used to. People look at you like you have a disease when you smoke. Kids and the poor are going to smoke whatever they can afford. Most kids start on the brands there family and friends smoke (marlboro,camel,newports) menthols being especially popular with kids during the rise of hip-hop/pop culture. They are easier to smoke. A lot of people won't even smoke cloves because they are harsh and heavy. I gave my cousin who has been smoking reds for 30 years a clove yesterday and he almost choked to death. Way too much for the average smoker. These clove cigarettes are more cigarish and elitest with their high prices and taxes. Which is weird why in a recession that we take items off the shelf that provide such high tax revenues. Cloves and even other flavored cigarettes are smoked by the college type, the intellectual, coffee shop goers, musicians, goths, eccerntrics and other berkely types. These enjoyable smokes help me relax, review and reassess while I enjoy a cup of coffee. My friend likes them once or twice a month when drinking. My friend from indonesia smokes them daily like I do except the difference between me and him is you are depriving this man of his cultural right when america is suppose to embrace the ideas of different ethnic groups. We let the jewish go to temple, we let the middle eastern folk go to mosque and put curry on everything, the russian's get their vodka and the asians get their rice, rotten eggs and dog. My friend can't ever again smell the clove scent of his country, he and I went from being successful businessmen to having to become illegal clove importers just to enjoy our lifestyles. Just for my friend to enjoy is culture and feel at home with how he was raised. Almost all clove cigarettes
come from indonesia and so it really disrupts their market regardless of what the upper brass thinks. This is protectionism. This is a violation of my amendments and rights. This law gives the fda way too much control and makes us a big brother country where the government raises the children since we allow the parents to be incompetent. I am an american who has been stripped of constitutional rights. I will do what I want, this will not stop me from getting my cloves nor will the lack of the 1% of cloves in the market will not curb kids from smoking. Most kids don't smoke these days. It's not cool to smoke you get treated like a leper. Like I said, sell cigarettes by the carton only and tax them to death. The real smokers will buy them. The drinking smokers will bum them and the kids and very low income will not be able to afford them. I mean what's next? Take away my flavored mouthwash? What about super sweet apricot beer that kids love. Kids die from alcohol, not cigarettes, more kids die from fraternity activities. Kids who smoke generally have family that smoke. No one wakes up and says I think it will be cool to pay for bad breath and cancer just to hold this cool stick. Leave us free adults alone. Regulate the parents and do not let the administration and the fda turn america in to a dictatorship and make us 1% of smokers live a harder life of luxury. To much control. Iv'e always leaned more democrat but honestly these liberals need to leave me alone with their whole foods infested berkelyish veagan ideas that say I can't eat meat or ill die, or transfast because ill die or oxygen because ill die. Don't worry we will all die soon enough and if you don't let smokers and drinkers kill themselves then you have population control to deal with. Well let's just let the fda put mercury in our dental fillings, and hormones in our babys milk and not let us smoke the brand of cigarettes we enjoy. Protectionsim, loss of rights. Damn is the apocolypse comming? I hope indonesia sticks their foot sideways up the behind of the WTO and fight for my rights as an american before I have to move to a country that is a little less motherly. This is how I feel and most people agree. The new ban is stupid.-david
Steven| 9.6.09 @ 11:36PM
I beleive that i have the right to smoke what i want but since the goverments out for there best intrest it seems my right to smoke is controlled by there right to live in greed. if i want to spend my money on the luxury of a cigarete then i believe i have the right to. Obviously if cloves were not a enjoyable cigarete to smoke people wouldn't buy them for the price they are. i only like to smoke cloves and stopping the sales just makes me more frustrated with the goverments actions during this year. i haven't been 18 to long but seems the opportunity to smoke is being taken away. If i wanted to smoke a marlboro i would, it's cheaper but i just hate the taste that you get from smoking not only marlboro but all cigaretes not clove and beleive that i will be a non smoker soon against my will. I understand the risk for smoking but it seems that goverment thinks we need a pacifier and a bib. I guess americans are just uneducated idiots who naturally do incompetent things. i guess the goverment sides with Hamilton and not Jefferson in that area, but if you read up on history Hamilton was such a foolish man he couldn't turn away from his on death, i guess pride is not the answer but you no us americans we can't give that up.
R.M. | 9.22.09 @ 2:20PM
If they had really done their research correctly they would have found that clove cigarettes are not popular and that companies do not use "clove" to lure kids to smoke. Unfortunately, these people don't care about the privilages or rights of other taxpaying American adults and believe that they have been given the right to walk all over us and take away the small pleasures in life which hard working people in this country have earned the right to enjoy. What do I believe is a good measure? Reducing the pay rate of Senators & other political figures by 25% of their paycheck & giving it to the homeless and the starving here in the United States. That! Is what they should really be doing anyways. Not wasting the American taxpayers's money on false research.
Pingback| 9.24.09 @ 3:46PM
The lazy new ban on clove cigarettes : Blisstree - Family, Health, Home and Lifestyl links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Nathaniel Flinchbaugh| 9.28.09 @ 9:34PM
We need to contact our Senators and Representatives and remind them they will not have JOBS if they keep this up. We need to remind them who THEY work for!!! Americans need to get back to our roots, where we as AMERICANS have a right to CHOOSE. The right of choice also comes with who we want to represent us!
Courtney| 9.29.09 @ 2:29AM
Please if you are as upset as I am about this unreasonable ban on Clove cigarettes and assault on our right to personal choice, sign this petition at Rally Congress:
http://www.rallycongress.com/2.....igarettes/
Larry Stallard| 1.25.10 @ 3:23PM
“. . . a cigarette or any of its component parts (including the tobacco, filter, or paper) shall not contain, as a constituent (including a smoke constituent) or additive, an artificial or natural flavor (other than tobacco or menthol) or an herb or spice, including strawberry, grape, orange, clove, cinnamon, pineapple, vanilla, coconut, licorice, cocoa, chocolate, cherry, or coffee, that is a characterizing flavor of the tobacco product or tobacco smoke.”
Hmmm....licorice is on the list but not excluded like menthol..........?
Let's see what Philip Morris puts in their cigaretts other than tobacco and menthol.
Wow! Look!!! They're STILL breaking the new FDA law.
Licorice extract (CAS # 68916-91-6) is currently used worldwide at levels below 14,000 ppm in selected cigarette brands manufactured and/or distributed by Philip Morris International. Licorice is applied to cigarette tobacco both as a flavor and casing material. It enhances and harmonizes the flavor characteristics of smoke, improves moisture holding characteristics of tobacco, thus increasing stability and shelf life, and acts as a surface active agent during the spraying process of casing ingredients, thus improving the rate of absorption of flavors uniformly and evenly into tobacco. Applied as such, licorice may be subject to pyrolysis-type reactions during the smoking process. This document summarises our internal studies and current published toxicology information on licorice extract abstracted from online toxicity databases. [14]
Maybe the "hush, hush" of the FDA is because of the buy off from Philip Morris. Classic federal communist corruption.