Smoking Chop – Chop?

I decided to Google the term chop –chop to get things started for my blog, and discovered it has multiple meanings depending on what you are looking for. Quite appropriately there were many references to food services often involving noodles and quick delivery; a hairdresser; a knife business; and I discovered Chop –Chop is even the name of a new reality series which sees two chefs do battle in the kitchen. You may not be aware that Chop- Chop is also Killing Joke’s second single from their third studio album, Revelations. As for the site that said “Uncle Chop – chop”, well, I decided not to go there……

I also discovered that “chop – chop” is a pidgin Cantonese phrase for “hurry up”. This is more in line with what I thought the phrase meant but for those who smoke tobacco it has another meaning. Chop – chop commonly refers to illegally grown or produced tobacco which is sold by weight on the black market.

Interestingly, it has been suggested that the Australian term came about back in the 1990’s from those who worked within the tobacco industry and observed the impact of illegal tobacco trade in Australia. It refers to the production process of illegal tobacco where the curd leaves are roughly cut up into fine strips. It is mostly grown outside of Australia with the main black market trade coming from Indonesia, (and other countries such as China, Philippines, Vietnam, and Brazil) where poor licensing and taxation regulations exist.

A recent report from Price Waterhouse Coopers (commissioned by the tobacco industry) states that illegal tobacco accounts for 12.8% of total tobacco consumed in Australia.

The World Health Organization predicts that illegal tobacco consumption will be MORE than legal tobacco worldwide by 2020.

While it is difficult to know exactly how many Australians smoke chop – chop, a 2002 study by Bittoun in her clinic found 43% of her patients smoked it, 83% said they did so because it was cheaper, and 58% thought it was better for them.

And there is part of the problem. It is cheaper to purchase a plastic bag of chop-chop than manufactured branded cigarettes; estimated to be even half the price of equivalent cigarettes. With the recent cost increases of cigarettes in Australia you can imagine illegal tobacco trading is on the up.

Chop – chop is mistakenly thought of as more “natural” and but certainly is not better for you to smoke than cigarettes. It avoids the regulatory bodies, and avoids excise and taxation levies. The home grown and amateur curing (drying) means no two batches are likely to be the same and the quality of the tobacco varies widely.

Bittouns report for the department of Health and Aging in December 2004 found contaminants such as cabbage leaves, grass clippings, hay, twigs and pulp from raw cotton which are used to bulk up the weight for sale. Some chop – chop was sold wet (again to increase bulk weight) requiring purchasers to dry out their tobacco in the sun or microwave. Water is also thought to be a byproduct of the leaves deterioration process.

The report states a raw adult tobacco plant contains bacteria, fungal spores (mould), pollen, dead insects and residue from pesticides and insecticides. Depending on how the tobacco is processed and stored, the addition of water and heat can provide the ideal environment for these microorganisms to flourish. Aspergillus and Penicilium are the most documented fungi found on raw unprocessed tobacco products and leaves.

Fungi release enzymes as part of their digestive process and are called mycotoxins. Some of these mycotoxins are toxic to humans if they are inhaled, ingested or exposed to the skin. Indeed studies document the negative impact on farmer’s respiratory health when exposed to environmental moulds and grains over time.

We know that fungi and the associated mycotoxins can lead to toxic responses in the liver, kidney, and skin – potentially being responsible for a range of health issues such as nausea, vomiting, dermatitis, eczema, hemorrhages, and immunosuppression.

Aspergillosis is a term used to describe lung disease caused by a type of fungus called aspergillus. People who are immunocompromised have asthma or other chronic lung disease can have allergic responses or colonise this fungus in the lung. Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis is a serious infection with pneumonia and can be fatal. Aspergillus is usually found growing on dead leaves and compost or decaying vegetation but has also been found on marijuana, and raw chop-chop samples in Australia.

Extrinsic Allergic Alveolitis (EAA) is used to describe a group of lung diseases which occur after repeated exposure to dusts of animal and vegetable origin and includes mouldy tobacco exposure. Extrinsic - means originating from outside the body, allergic – caused by the allergic reaction of the body to a particular substance or condition, alveolitis – when the tiny air sacs in the lungs become inflamed. Tobacco Workers Lung is a type of EAA from inhalation of mouldy tobacco. In this case the allergy is triggered from a series of complicated reactions from the body’s own natural defense mechanisms. In an acute episode, patients present with symptoms such as cough, fever, chills, headache, malaise and myalgia within hours of exposure. Chronic and ongoing exposure can lead to breathlessness, wheezing, weight loss, digital clubbing, right heart failure and pulmonary fibrosis, and permanent lung damage.

The Bittoun report highlights the fact that many Australian asthmatics are smokers, and many people with COPD also are unable to quit. In such cases, respiratory function and lung clearance is already compromised. The potential side effects to smoking chop-chop are many. So yes, chop-chop may be cheap – but what is the real cost?

Lisa