Where there's smoke, there's fire: Cigarette cards spark concern in schools

A growing craze for cigarette cards is gripping schoolyards across China, triggering serious concern among parents and educators.

Children are obsessing over these small, folded cutouts from cigarette packs.

While the cards might seem like a harmless pastime, they expose children to tobacco brands and smoking behavior at a vulnerable age, potentially leading to lifelong consequences.

China, the world's largest consumer of tobacco, has taken great pains over the years to control smoking, including bans on the practice in certain facilities. What it doesn't want is a new generation enticed to the habit.

A cigarette card game was popular in the 1970s and 80s. In its revival, kids collect cards cut from cigarette packs and compete in a game by slapping them on the ground, trying to flip over their opponents' cards. The winners obtain the opponent's cards.

The more prestigious the cigarette brand, the more valuable the card is considered among players.

In cities like Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou, this has led to a hierarchy where children rank each other based on the cigarette brands they can access. Some children are trading and collecting these cards like precious commodities.

A few days ago, a local elementary school student surnamed Xu spent 49 yuan (US$6.90) on an e-commerce platform to buy over 500 cigarette cards. After receiving the cards, he identified them as counterfeit by the feel, glue marks and lack of tobacco scent.

"I was curious and knew they were probably fake, but I wanted to try," he said.

He also spent two or three hours a day biking around his neighborhood collecting cigarette packs to trade among schoolmates. A standard pack goes for 2 to 3 yuan, while high-end brands like Heaven on Earth can fetch up to 10 yuan, said Xu.

"We play because everyone else is playing. It's about fitting in," he said, adding that students know smoking is harmful and haven't taken up the practice themselves.

But the proximity of children to tobacco-derived products has become so widespread that local education departments are beginning to take action. In Beijing and Shanghai, some schools have already banned students from bringing cigarette cards to class.

"Students are bringing these cards to school, trading them in the hallways and even arguing over them during class," said Chen Li, a local elementary school teacher in Hongkou District. "It's creating a distraction and fostering an unhealthy interest in cigarette brands. We have confiscated the cards and had serious discussions with parents about the risks."

Parents, too, are concerned about potential long-term risks.

"My son started asking me to buy certain cigarette brands just for the cards inside to show off to his friends," Li Mei, a mother from Beijing, complained on the social platform Red. "It's worrying that something as harmful as tobacco could become so normalized in their minds."

A key factor fueling the resurgence of cigarette cards is the easy availability of these items online.

E-commerce platforms like Tmall and Pinduoduo have become major sources for the cards. Sellers are offering packs that include various cigarette brands.

Despite regulations that prohibit the sale of tobacco products to minors, these platforms continue to list cigarette cards featuring brands like Marlboro and Yellow Crane Tower as "toys" or "collectibles," bypassing laws intended to protect children.

Inquiries about the legality of these sales were met with vague reassurances from sellers who claim that their products are completely legal. Some told Shanghai Daily that the cards are just printed matter not actually cut from cigarette packs.

China is not alone in grappling with the resurgence of cigarette-related games among children. Similar trends have been observed in countries like the United States, where collectible cards have been associated with tobacco products in the past.

In the early 20th century, cigarette companies in the US and the UK included collectible cards in their packs, which became popular among both adults and children.

Although the practice was largely phased out amid growing anti-smoking campaigns, the concept has re-emerged in various forms.

In Japan, for instance, children have been seen collecting and trading "tobacco cards," which are similar to the cigarette cards in China.

In Indonesia, where smoking rates are among the highest in the world, collectible items related to cigarette brands remain popular among youth.

Public health experts in China and abroad are increasingly worried about the potential risks associated with these cigarette cards.

Li Enze, vice director and secretary general of the Public Welfare Law Professional Committee of the Chinese Anti-Tobacco Association, stresses the danger of early exposure to tobacco branding.

"These cards are a gateway to tobacco use," he said. "They familiarize children with cigarette brands and create a positive association with smoking, which can lead to experimentation and addiction later in life."

The World Health Organization has long warned about the dangers of tobacco marketing to children, citing research that shows a strong link between early exposure to tobacco advertising and future smoking habits.

In response to these trends, WHO has called for stricter regulations on the marketing of tobacco-related products, especially in digital spaces where children are increasingly active.

"Platforms like Taobao and Pinduoduo must implement stricter age verification measures and remove listings that market these products as toys or collectibles," Li added.

Market regulation authorities in cities like Beijing and Shanghai have already begun cracking down on the sale of cigarette cards.

In addition to regulatory measures, experts emphasize the importance of public education. Parents and teachers need to be informed about the risks associated with cigarette cards and should actively discourage children from participating in these games.

"We need to help children understand the dangers of smoking and the deceptive tactics used by tobacco companies to market their products," Li said.

However, some experts caution against overly punitive measures.

Yao Mei, a national second-level psychological counselor, argues for a more balanced approach.

"Simply banning cigarette cards might drive them underground and make them more appealing to children," she said. "Instead, we should focus on understanding why these games are so attractive and offer healthier alternatives."

Yao suggests promoting other collectible games that encourage positive social interactions without the associated risks.

"Children are naturally drawn to activities that involve competition and social bonding," she explained. "If we can provide alternative games that fulfill these needs, we can gradually steer them away from cigarette cards."

China's smoking rate has dropped over the past decade, with the percentage of smokers under 20, falling from about 12 percent to over 6 percent, according to the China Family Panel Studies led by Peking University.

Despite the decline, challenges in youth tobacco control persist. The 2018 China Adult Tobacco Survey showed that factors like cheaper cigarettes and pervasive tobacco advertising continue to expose minors to smoking-related content, increasing their familiarity with cigarette brands.

A study in southwest China's Yunnan Province found that the more cigarette brands teens recognized, the more likely they were to try smoking.

Another survey in south Guangdong revealed that 44 percent of teens tried their first cigarette out of curiosity, with nearly a third developing a smoking habit afterward. The younger they start, the harder it is to quit.