Presently, according to Section 13 Control of Tobacco Product Regulations 2004 under the Food Act 1983, the legal age for smoking for Malaysians is 18 years old.
The provision has not been changed since 1994.
Speaking to FMT, tobacco control expert Dr Zarihah Mohd Zain, who helped draw up smoking regulations in Malaysia, said the decision to raise the legal age to 21 years old was an excellent move that could reduce the number of smokers.
“It is an excellent move that will reduce the initiation of smoking and in reducing smoking prevalence,” she said, adding that the move will also improve public health.
She said in order for the tobacco industry to maintain profits, they must replace their customers lost (through death or quitting) by preying on young people as “replacement smokers”.
“The probability for teenagers to start smoking is higher than an adult.
“According to research, if a man has never smoked by the age of 18, the odds are three-to-one he never would. By the age of 24, the odds are reduced to 20-to-one,” Zarihah said.
Deputy Health Minister 1 Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali concurred with Zarihah.
He said that a regulatory impact analysis by the health ministry in 2017 showed that raising the smoking legal age to 21 would bring about more benefits.
Previously, former health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said a new bill to control all tobacco-related products and e-cigarettes was to have been introduced by the end of 2019 and that this Tobacco Control Bill was being drafted when he was a minister.
However, it has yet to see the light of day. He was “told the new Act is with the Attorney-General’s Chambers”.
Dzulkefly conceded that “from what we know, tobacco companies are lobbying against this particular act”.
Asked about the new tobacco bill, Noor Azmi confirmed that the bill is under final review and is being planned to be tabled in the next parliamentary session.
Zarihah alleged the delay in tabling the bill was due to interference by the tobacco industry, which she claims was being reciprocated by certain people at the relevant government agencies.
“There is no other logical reason for this inaction,” she said.