My dad bought several more bags of loose tobacco at the market today. They were only two yuan a bag, and he said they were much cheaper than cigarettes from a store.

You should persuade him not to smoke it. The police recently cracked a case involving tobacco that was specifically sold to elderly people in rural areas.

It may be cheap, but is there really something wrong with it? My dad said the vendor promised that the tobacco leaves were homegrown.

The problem is very serious. The production site was hidden inside a chicken farm in Yunnan. The tobacco was piled directly on the ground and mixed with manure, weeds, and dust.

That is far too filthy. Surely they would not keep selling moldy tobacco leaves, would they?

They sprayed baijiu on them to cover the smell of mold and then processed them into shredded tobacco. The police seized a total of 3.66 metric tons of tobacco and more than two million empty cigarette tubes.

So it was not made by a small vendor at all, but by an entire illegal supply chain. Does shredded tobacco also require a license?

Of course. Shredded tobacco is subject to the same state monopoly controls as cigarettes. Producing or selling it without a license may be illegal, and offenders may even face prison if the amount exceeds a certain threshold.

I will throw away the tobacco my dad bought tonight and remind him not to risk his health just to save a few yuan.