COMMENT | In conjunction with this year’s World No Tobacco Day theme “Commit to quit”, the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) urges:

• Smokers and vapers to quit their habit, not only for the money they can save but also not to jeopardize their health. People should not let the tobacco industry use them as pawns for their business interests.
• The government should not entertain the tobacco and vape industries in policy development. For example in 2019, the tobacco industry successfully blocked a scheduled tobacco tax increase. The industry and its front groups also opposed a vaping ban in certain states to become national policy.

As recently as April 2021, the Malaysia Retail Electronic Cigarette Association (MRECA) president Adzwan Ab Manas...