GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION IN CIGARETTE SMOKING 1

VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION IN THE CIGARETTE SMOKING

ISSUE OF ADOLESCENTS

Student's Full name

Student's ID

University of Greenwich (Vietnam)

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Table of Contents

Abstract...................................................................................................................................... 4

I. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................. 5

II. RATIONALE........................................................................................................................ 6

III. IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS.......................................................................................................6

A. Current problems of adolescent smoking in Vietnam....................................................6

1. Leads to ravage to health and aliveness...................................................................6

2. The burden and influence on the individual and nation's economy.........................8

B. The causes of tobacco addiction in Vietnam..................................................................8

1. The user oneself.......................................................................................................8

2. The development of tobacco....................................................................................8

C. The solutions and government intervention to the smoking problem in Vietnam......... 9

1. Warnings in the media in Vietnam.......................................................................... 9

2. General penalties................................................................................................... 10

3. Laws in Education................................................................................................. 11

IV. EVALUATION..................................................................................................................11

V. CONCLUSION................................................................................................................... 12

References................................................................................................................................ 13
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Table of Figures

Figure 1 : Alarming youth smoking status. 1 Source: Hai, T, 2018................................... 6

Figure 2 : What to Know About Cigar Smoking 1. Source: Martin, 2020.........................7

Figure 3 : Abstract of passive smoking by women and children.1 Source: science photo

library, 2021................................................................................................................7

Figure 4 : Students are drawn to smoke. 1 Source: Tuan, 2019........................................ 8

Figure 5 : Tobacco is revamped over time. 1 Source: Sotaysuckhoe, 2020....................... 9

Figure 6 : Activities to prevent and control the harmful effects of tobacco. Source: Han,

2020...........................................................................................................................10

Figure 7 : Creepy images on cigarette packs.Source: Linh, 2014.....................................10

Figure 8 : Smoking is prohibited in public places. Source: Tu, 2018...............................11

GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION IN CIGARETTE SMOKING 4

Abstract
Cigarettes are a widespread problem all over the world, and most of the people who seek
to smoke are adults. Nonetheless, the affair of tobacco has also been started by school-
ages, which has an enormous impact on culture, health, and communities. The objective
of this study is to investigate the in-depth government intervention in Vietnam. From a
scientific perspective, tobacco seriously influences the soundness and aliveness of both
users and those around them, and it will also be a burden and have an impact on the
economy of themselves and the nation. Moreover, the most prevalent cause of this issue is
that the users themselves and the innovation and contemporary of cigarettes to attract
their taste. Therefore, the Government and the Ministry of Education have proposed plans
to intercept tobacco abuse in the school environment. Nevertheless, most of the rules and
regulations are still not stringent and need to be more severe in the prevention of tobacco
evils.
Keywords: Cigarette, smoking, government intervention, adolescents.
GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION IN CIGARETTE SMOKING 5

I. INTRODUCTION.
Cigarette smoking is prevalent in most countries of the world, and through certain
researches that is found that the majority of adults have just started using tobacco.
Nevertheless, nowadays, many students and young people under the age of 18 have used
tobacco in education and school (shown in Figure 1). Cigarette users face serious lung
disease, and secondhand smoke affects people nearby, especially pregnant women and
children. Many harms affect the health of cigarette users and people nearby, and the general
culture in Vietnam, so the government of Vietnam has introduced many laws to intervene and
control the tobacco problem. Three general government laws apply to individuals who use
cigarettes: tariffs, fines, and warnings on product packaging.
In 2016, Harvey, J., Nicholas Chadi, et.al researches that the circumstance of youth
tobacco in Canada, and the Government of Canada and a team of medical professionals have
combined to produce articles, announcements, media, and books about extremely detailed
risks of harm to health, thereby striking the psychology of minors and adolescents.
Nonetheless, for other countries, they are not effective high, and the reason is that 1 out of
1000 people can quit smoking. In addition, the abuse of tobacco is growing, which causes
many evils and negatively influences human health, including people nearby (Bonnie, R.,
et.al, 2004). All of the above studies highlight the harmful effects of smoking and how
teenagers are trying to damage their health.
In this study, the negative aspect of smoking will be analyzed and focused on
teenagers and school-age in the primary and secondary stages. In the next section, the causes
of the tobacco problem that have enlarged over the years, and the government furnishes with
legislation aimed at ameliorating that situation in the educational environment will be
analyzed shortly thereafter. Finally, assessing how efficacious the law enactment has been
over the years. Whether cigarette use prevention will be effective and will radicalization
among minors improve the no-smoking culture in Vietnam. It will be argued that it is
impossible to avert tobacco and other cultural evils in Vietnam for two reasons. Firstly, the
Vietnamese government has initiated many laws, but there is no strictness in the management
and punishment of violators. Secondly, tobacco factories still exist, and they produce a wide
range of different types of tobacco, which further increases consumers in society.
GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION IN CIGARETTE SMOKING 6

Figure 1: Alarming youth smoking status. 1 Source: Hai, T, 2018.

II. RATIONALE.
Snuff factories still prevail and produce a wide range of different types of smoking,
which has led to an intension in tobacco users, and it becomes social evil. Due to the reason
that users are addicted and utilize it day by day, the culture and the country have been greatly
affected by the overall brand of the nation, furthermore, tobacco is very deleterious to the
health of users and people nearby. The most momentous problem is that adolescents
disregard their health and use cigarettes at an early age, and tobacco can have serious
negative domination on them causing many negative forces in the educational environment
and society. Therefore, this study addresses the pernicious drawbacks effects on people
caused by cigarettes. From there, the laws put in place by the government to prevent smoking
will be evaluated for effectiveness and give some suggestions for tightening the law to
thoroughly tackle the problem of evils.

III. IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS.

A. Current problems of adolescent smoking in Vietnam.
1. Leads to ravage to health and aliveness.
According to the WHO, the charge of smoking is a myriad of diseases such as lung
cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, infertility, and the like,
as shown in Figure 2. By 2020, 1 out of 6 people will die from smoking, and every year about
40,000 Vietnamese people die from active smoking. According to Figure 3, Vietnam has
GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION IN CIGARETTE SMOKING 7

6,000 dead people, especially women and children from inhalation of secondhand cigarettes
every year (Vietnamplus, 2021).

Figure 2: What to Know About Cigar Smoking 1. Source: Martin, 2020.

Figure 3: Abstract of passive smoking by women and children.1 Source: science photo
library, 2021.
Regarding 30% of Covid-19 patients, who are using tobacco, face symptoms that
range from severe to critical, and this rate is almost twice as high as in the non-smokers (Tho,
2021).
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2. The burden and influence on the individual and nation's economy.

Instead of contributing to Vietnam's economy, every year about 15 million
Vietnamese people spend 31,000 billion VND to buy cigarettes - on average 2 million VND
per person, which costs both health and money (Yen, 2020).

B. The causes of tobacco addiction in Vietnam.

1. The user oneself.
Tuan (2019) affirms that the explanations come from 2 sides. Firstly, being subjective
like prying adolescence, proving yourself in front of people nearby, diminishing stress and
life pressure. Secondly, being objective like being pulled by friends or a crowd (See Figure
4), parental and sibling smoking, unhealthy communication environment (bars, clubs, etc,).

Figure 4: Students are drawn to smoke. 1 Source: Tuan, 2019.

2. The development of tobacco.

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Figure 5: Tobacco is revamped over time. 1 Source: Sotaysuckhoe, 2020.

According to Figure 5, the evolution of tobacco over recent years has attracted more
and more students, especially current cigarettes that have scents such as mint, strawberry, and
the like and even taste, which is one of the reasons for the addiction to both users and inhalers
from the drug.

C. The solutions and government intervention to the smoking problem in Vietnam.

1. Warnings in the media in Vietnam.
Anti-tobacco laws have been enacted and become more stringent over the years, and
the detrimental effects of tobacco are propagated on billboards, television, cigarette
packaging, etc., and everywhere such as schools, clinics, hospitals, etcetera (shown in Figure
6 and Figure 7).
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Figure 6: Activities to prevent and control the harmful effects of tobacco. Source: Han, 2020.

Figure 7: Creepy images on cigarette packs. Source: Linh, 2014.

2. General penalties.
Besides, the government has also introduced administrative penalties for violators that
have two levels. Firstly, warnings and fines are from 100,000 VND to 300,000 VND for
tobacco users (Luatduonggia, 2021). Secondly, a fine from 1 million VND to 2 million VND
GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION IN CIGARETTE SMOKING 11

for trading (Luatduonggia, 2021). In particular, violators in places where tobacco use is
strictly prohibited such as hospitals, state agencies, and schools will have heavy fines
depending on the level of opposition to these individuals (shown in Figure 7).

Figure 8: Smoking is prohibited in public places. Source: Tu, 2018.

3. Laws in Education.
The Government and the Ministry of Education set out the level of punishment for
three types of violations. The first violation is that students are reminded, invited their parents
to exchange, reprimanded in front of the class (Tam, 2020). The second violation is that they
made minutes, invited parents to meet with the school's Disciplinary Council, reprimanded
(Tam, 2020). For the 3rd time or more, make minutes, invite the parents to meet with the
school's Disciplinary Counsel, and give a warning (Tam, 2020).

IV. EVALUATION.
Tobacco is tremendously toxic and murderous, and this is the reason that are
exceedingly negative consequences on the environment and human health. The amount of
cigarette waste is everywhere, including schools and universities, and the smoke released is
very influencing many people around, especially during the Covid-19 epidemic, smoking is
even more noxious to alive. Laws issued by the government issued are applied for a long time,
which is almost not strict, therefore, the cigarette factories still establish and produce millions
of volumes of cigarettes annually, and the integer of users is increasing day by day. The
GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION IN CIGARETTE SMOKING 12

creepy images on the tobacco package and the punishments are rarely enforced because users
are still using it stealthily, which is extremely affecting children and school age. I recommend
that e-cigarette or vape technology is underway and research on alternatives to cigarettes
(Bilano V, et.al, 2015), and they are less harmful, besides, the government can directly
intervene in granting permission to build factories, give treatment plans strongly against
individual students who smoke, and Ministry of Education & Training should have some
courses that give evidence that smoking causes death so that they need to avoid it.

V. CONCLUSION.
Cigarette problems and causes, government intervention, and a brief assessment of the
chances of laws of real-world solutions have been discussed above. From the above analysis,
it can be found that the toxicity and strong influence from tobacco, thereby, the government
has taken measures to tackle the situation, nevertheless, although there is much heavy
intervention of government, there are two sides of the assessment that are still debated. The
state and the government need to be stricter and tighten the law to deter and shrink the
smoking rate in Vietnam, especially the school environment - the place where spirit,
innocence, and talented people are developed. Perhaps that's why each individual needs to
raise the awareness of health protection and the love of the whole community and ourselves
for a better and more modern life, and it is hoped that this research will illustrate the full
spectrum of negativity and eye that tobacco has to offer and alert individuals to tobacco use.
 GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION IN CIGARETTE SMOKING 13

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The number of words: 1504 words.

Abstract: 165 words.