Researcher probing if tobacco's native forms less harmful

Chennai/Madurai, March 29: Can indigenous ways of smoking counteract the harm being done by mass-produced cigarettes? Researching the roots of native Fijian tobacco plant 'suki' said to originated in Tamil Nadu and smoked in a "roll-up", a renowned scientist from New Zealand is finding about the similar Indian cheroot.

On her visit to India, scientist Marewa Glover is accompanied by Fijian elder Setariki, who recalls learning that indentured labourers from India took tobacco plants with them to the South Pacific island country.

Looked at now, the Fijian suki appears to be processed similarly to cheroots found in Tamil Nadu's Dindigul district.

Their visit was to see how similar the production process is for cheroot and 'suki' and to explore how people are using the cheroot today.

"In India, mass-produced cigarettes made by tobacco companies have largely displaced cheroot use which is now viewed as an old and fading practice, as is the experience in Fiji," Glover said in a statement.

"But as taxes on tobacco have been raised, native and Indian Fijians are turning back to growing, chewing and smoking suki," the researcher, who is seeking to understand indigenous people's use of tobacco in order to inform the reduction of disease associated with tobacco use, added.

"The epidemic of tobacco-related diseases that cause about 7 million deaths around the world each year are mainly due to smoking the mass-produced cigarettes. Whilst smoking anything is damaging, prior to mass marketed cigarettes of tobacco companies, tobacco was harder to get and smoke and its use was often restricted using cultural rules," she notes.

"By working with the people who are disproportionately harmed by smoking, we can move on to co-design and testing of indigenous-centric solutions to reduce smoking harm."