Rugikan Farmers Tobacco, Regent Of Temanggung Asks For Article 154 Of The Health Bill To Be Removed

Illustrations of tobacco farming in Temanggung. ANTARA/Heru Suyitno

TEMANGGUNG - Draft Law on the Omnibus Law on Health Article 154 paragraph (3) which equates tobacco with addictive substances in the form of narcotics, psychotropic substances, and alcoholic beverages can harm tobacco farmers. "If tobacco is the same addictive substance as psychotropic substances, it means that later it will place tobacco farmers such as growing marijuana," said Temanggung Regent M. Al Khadziq in Temanggung, Antara, Friday, May 12. Therefore, the Temanggung Regency Government must provide proposals or input to the Indonesian House of Representatives, especially article 154 removed. do not place tobacco as the same addictive substance as psychotropic substances. He said that in Temanggung Regency more than 60 percent of farmers are tobacco farmers and have been growing tobacco for hundreds of years. Tobacco has proven to have contributed to the economy, especially in the Temanggung area and its surroundings, tobacco is the main seeds in people's income and economic income. "With the bill, I am worried that later the tobacco economy will decline, people's welfare will decrease. Therefore, the Temanggung Regency Government will send a letter to the Indonesian Parliament, which is currently working on this Health Bill," he said. Temanggung as one of the tobacco-producing regions, according to him, has never been asked to provide consideration or input, and no one has even conducted a study of the status of this tobacco.

"Both the health office and the district government have not and I have also not heard of tobacco farmers being asked for opinions or the central government has never conducted a study in drafting this Health Bill, suddenly now there is a list of contents of this Health Bill problem," he said.