Three-year-old girl addicted to cigarettes
BEIJING, July 15 (Xinhuanet) — Recent reports and Internet video footage of a 2-year-old Indonesian boy’s smoking addiction have shocked many worldwide and now China has its own pint-sized puffer, a 3-year-old girl named Yawen.
Like her Indonesian counterpart, Yawen from Huizhou, Guangdong Province reportedly throws severe tantrums if deprived of a cig.
However, unlike the boy who appears to be otherwise healthy, she is reportedly in bad shape after being hit by a truck and in a five-day coma in February 2009.
She left the hospital in June last year, but soon began sneaking smokes and stealing money from her parents to buy them, “like candy,” said her mother, surnamed Gao.
Her mother said she’s been smoking a pack a day since October and attempts to break her bad habit have failed.
One doctor said she’s been traumatized by the accident and smoking makes her “feel more secure.” She also has been drinking alcohol. Her mother said she is taking her to a psychiatrist in an attempt to cure her addictions.