EFN

There is a new video being circulated across the Internet. Unlike other videos that bring in large crowds, this one is far from humorous.

The newest video shows a two-year-old Indonesian boy, named Ardi, puffing away on a cigarette. Unfortunately, this is not an enhanced video. It is real footage of a sadly addicted toddler. According to his parents, the boy smokes up to 40 cigarettes a day. He smoked his first cigarette at 18 months of age.

Mother of Ardi, Diana Rizal, 26, says of the boy’s habit, “He’s totally addicted. If he doesn’t get cigarettes, he gets angry and screams and batters his head against the wall. He tells me he feels dizzy and sick.”

Sadly, that is not the only thing going against the baby boy; he is also overweight for his age and even rides around in a toy car in order to be able to keep up with other kids his age. Unfortunately, his parents are oblivious to the problem.

Ardi’s father, Mohammed Rizal, 30, said, “He looks pretty healthy to me. I don’t see the problem.”

The footage has humanitarian groups outraged. They feel that this shows the grip that cigarettes have on third world countries.

Matthew Myers, president of Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids said, “I was horrified but not surprised. This video demonstrates how truly tragic the global use of tobacco is.”

It is estimated that the lower-income Indonesian families spend nearly 12 percent of their income on cigarettes. Pair this with the medical expenses that come along with smoking and you have a financial crisis.