CAP: Ban alone not enough – enforcement also needed

PETALING JAYA: Juvenile smokers are still lighting up, even in smokefree zones.

Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) education officer N.V. Subbarow, who works closely with schools and teachers, said cigarettes were still easily accessible to students.

“The moment they step out of the school gates, they can buy cigarettes from petrol stations, mini markets and hypermarkets.

“Single sticks are openly sold. When I threatened to report a shopkeeper, he begged me not to, saying, ‘I survive on this’.

“These students don’t bother about smoke-free zones – they do not even care about the legal smoking age,” he said, adding that there were also complaints of teachers smoking in school toilets.

National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) secretary-general Harry Tan said smoking was still a disciplinary problem in schools.

“It’s like bullying, despite all the precautions and warnings, it still happens,” he said.

“Teachers must set a good example.

“If you must smoke, do it in a proper place. Definitely not in school.”

In April last year, smoking was no longer allowed at camp sites, game courts, playgrounds, and public parks – places popular with youngsters, under the Health Ministry’s Control of Tobacco Product (Amendment) Regulations 2017.

The Tobacco and E-cigarette Survey among Malaysian Adolescents 2016 (Tecma) showed that four in five knew that smoking by anyone below the age of 18 was an offence under the law. Yet, more than half said they were not prevented from buying tobacco products.

Universiti Malaya Nicotine Addiction Research & Collaboration Group (NARCC) coordinator and smoking cessation specialist Assoc Prof Dr Amer Siddiq Amer Nordin said it was not surprising to see smokers puffing away at smokefree zones.

Enforcement was still an issue, and has been for many years, he added.