PETALING JAYA: Punitive measures have not been proven to cure smokers of their addiction and this is why the proposed Generational End Game law is geared towards penalising sellers to cut access to the youngsters, say health experts.
Under the Bill, individuals born on Jan 1, 2007, and after are barred from smoking or purchasing cigarettes or other tobacco products including vapes. Dr Zaliha said educational enforcement includes sending minors for counselling and to smoking cessation clinics instead of punitive action. The relevant measures include limiting or prohibiting promotions and advertising – a move that has proven to work – and allowing access only to those eligible to buy, he added.
“Controls will be at the buying and selling ends to ensure that traders are not selling to minors or those within the GEG cohort and also that these individuals are not buying,” he said. Ikram Health Malaysia president Dr Mohd Afiq Mohd Nor, whose NGO is active in running cessation clinics for smokers who are minors, said the public should understand that the GEG targets to control nicotine addiction at its very source – the point of sale.