The Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) said the tobacco industry had called for the lowering of prices in claiming that 60% of the cigarettes smoked by five million Malaysians were smuggled, with 456 million sticks smuggled in the first half of this year.

It said the tobacco lobby had urged the government to cut taxes on cigarettes to lower the prices on legally sold cigarettes so as to reduce the demand on smuggled ones.

“Do we legitimise party drugs and make them affordable to prevent or reduce its illegal use? It is a preposterous idea.

“Lowering cigarette prices will encourage more people to smoke. Smoking ‘legal’ or ‘illegal’ cigarettes is not an issue because, primarily, smoking is all about nicotine addiction and smoking-related diseases.

“We urge the government to not kowtow to the sob story generated by the industry and further increase the tax on cigarettes so as to fund health promotion efforts,” CAP president Mohideen Abdul Kader said in a statement.

He said tougher tobacco control was the only way forward, as the government had predicted it would have to spend RM7.4 billion by 2025 to treat illnesses caused by smoking. He said those selling cigarettes should be licensed and those who peddled smuggled ones should receive mandatory jail terms.

Mohideen said any move to backtrack on tobacco control would reverse efforts by the government since it was started in the 1970s, going against the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

It was reported that the Customs Department managed to stop the attempted smuggling of 456.03 million sticks of cigarettes between January and June, which is almost double that of the same period last year.