"Chop-chop" tobacco smoking

To the Editor: "Chop-chop" tobacco is illicit tobacco that has been grown and clandestinely distributed by farmers and wholesalers and sold on without government intervention or taxation. There is no quality control over this illicit substance, which may be adulterated or "bulked up". It is sold illegally "under the counter" by weight for rolled cigarettes by unscrupulous tobacconists and grocers. This type of tobacco, which has been roughly chopped up (hence "chop-chop"), is very cheap compared with legally produced manufactured cigarettes.