What should be alarming to teens is that bidis can actually stunt their growth when smoked during adolescence. They speed up the closing of growth plates in the long bones, effectively stopping them from ever reaching their full height potential. This is in addition to exposing them to possible cancer-causing agents in bidis. Runaways are shackled with chains and made to work and sleep while chained. Read this story about Pattinathar who spent six years working up to 16-hour days in a bidi factory will have you reaching for a tissue.
Health authorities are troubled that bidis are advertised and sold on the Internet.
Major importers claim that they are selling to retailers and not individuals. Each cone and brick is adorned with the well known Hindu deity Ganesh, the god of wisdom and prudence. Ganesh is represented as a short, pot-bellied man with four arms and an elephant's head bearing a single tusk. This advertisement on the web page of a major bidi importer leads me to believe it is targeting our youngsters, not retailers. This is not the first time a tobacco company has done this.