Health warning aired vs cigarette called ‘tuklaw’

Inquirer photo/Niño Jesus Orbeta

MANILA, Philippines — The Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) warned the public against recently circulating tobacco products locally known as “tuklaw,” saying it is “more potent” than marijuana.

Tuklaw is made from a tobacco plant associated with South America but popular in Vietnam as “thuoc lao”—which, according to the two antidrug agencies, has up to three times more nicotine content than cigarettes.

In their joint statement on Friday, the DDB and PDEA claimed that tuklaw has 9 percent more nicotine than cigarettes, which they said have only 1 percent to 3 percent.

Lab findings

DDB is the policymaking body while PDEA is the law-enforcement arm of the government’s campaign against illegal drugs.

PDEA further claimed that its laboratory findings on tuklaw show not only nicotine but also a “synthetic cannabinoid” which is “designed to mimic the effects of marijuana but [is] more potent and dangerous.”

According to the two agencies, tuklaw may cause “psychotic episodes and hallucinations” as well as “seizure-like symptoms characterized by brief, shock-like body jerks and twitches.”

“These deadly cigarettes laced with synthetic cannabinoid are obviously smuggled goods and reportedly sold online,” PDEA Director General Isagani Nerez said in the statement.

DDB Chair Oscar Valenzuela was quoted in the statement as saying that his agency and PDEA will “safeguard the welfare and interest of the general public against the threats and dangers of potentially addictive and harmful substances, such as synthetic cannabinoids.”