Health think tank: Anti-smoking law musn't criminalise usage

 

Health policy think tank Galen Centre urges that the bill aimed to bar those born after 2007 from legally purchasing cigarettes should be amended to ensure it does not inadvertently violate human rights or penalise the marginalised.

Its chief executive, Azrul Mohd Khalib, said although the law, widely known as Generational End Game (GEG), is long overdue, it must be amended to ensure it only penalises tobacco product sellers and not users.

He said this is the distinct difference between the Malaysian bill and New Zealand’s bill, which also aims to place a generational ban on smoking.

“A person addicted to nicotine, whether a smoker or vaper, has the right to be treated equally under the law, with compassion and dignity.

“It is potentially open to injustice when a person in the GEG category is singled out for prosecution of possession or usage, especially when the penalties are potentially high,” he said in a statement.

“The GEG measures should ensure that it is an offence to legally sell or supply tobacco or vape products to those born from Jan 1, 2007, but it should not criminalise possession or usage.”

Under the bill, a buyer born from Jan 1, 2007, can be fined up to RM5,000 for buying a tobacco product, smoking substance, substitute tobacco product or smoking device.

Sellers can be fined up to RM50,000 or jailed for up to three years, depending on the type of seller and whether it is the first offence.

Azrul added that as it stands, the law could disproportionately affect young people, persons of lower income and vulnerable populations, who make up a large proportion of tobacco product users.

As such, he said, it is crucial that the law is fair and that the bill is deferred if amendments cannot be made in time for this session.

The Control of Tobacco Product and Smoking Bill 2022 is being tabled for the second and third reading in the Dewan Rakyat this week.

“The Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) for Health, Science and Innovation and the PSC on Women, Children and Social Development have both raised issues of concern, particularly Part IX on enforcement, and provided recommendations.

“Their bipartisan views should be considered seriously,” he said.

Criminalisation of self-harm has failed before

Azrul said the law is “world-leading” and can save lives, and the vast amounts of public funds currently spent on treating diseases related to smoking.

However, it must take into account what practitioners have learnt from the past two decades of managing opioid addiction.

For example, he said, we now know that interventions guided by compassion and dignity have the best-improved health outcomes compared to punitive measures.

“Those which were dependent on measures to punish and criminalise drug users ultimately failed. This is a fact. The criminalisation of self-harm should be avoided.”

Azrul said these concerns should not be trivialised or misconstrued as being against the objectives of the bill because there is a real risk of potential abuse with long-term consequences.

“Smokers and vapers in the GEG category need to be supported and helped in their treatment of nicotine addiction,” he said. - Mkini