By R.Perera
‘Prohibition Does Not Work’ (PDNW), an international think-tank, has published a report urging countries to strongly avoid costly mistakes that arise out of the prohibition of nicotine products. There are ample examples of nations that have that previously imposed blanket bans on such potentially reduced risk products that have resulted in disastrous consequences.
Taking to account case studies from Australia and Brazil, the report clearly stipulates that bans do not work. In countries where governments have imposed prohibitions, smoke rates have wither stalled, or risen, while illicit markets flourished. This results in governments facing a two-fold defeat in that there are gains in public health, and black markets thrive outside regulation. In Australia, the Ministry of Health’s data shows that smoking rates are virtually same between 2018(12.3%) and 2023 (11.8.%). A further note of concern is that recent figures from Ray Morgan have revealed an increase, with rates climbing from 13.2% in September 2024, to 13.5% in May of 2025.
On the contrary, such bans restrict legitimate businesses from selling regulated products. This would effectively give control of the market to illegal operators, who do not follow age-of-sale restrictions or product safety standards. This exposes users to high-risk products and leaves consumers without regulated, potentially reduced risk alternatives. The report notes that adult smokers with restrictive policies are less able to switch from traditional cigarettes which has led to higher smoking rates compared to places where regulated smokeless nicotine alternatives are available.
In contrast, countries such as the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Sweden, have implemented science-based strategies, integrating vapour and other potentially reduced-risk nicotine products into tobacco harm reduction framework. This is has resulted in record-low smoking rates, which prove beyond a doubt that the availability of potentially reduced risk alternatives, advances public health dramatically.
The PDNW report cites Malaysia as an example of a country that currently has a unique opportunity to implement a smarter strategy by considering the global lessons presented. It states that the priority should be ensuring that consumers have access to regulated smokeless nicotine alternatives, while enforcement focuses on stopping criminal networks who supply illegal vapour products. The report emphasises that instead of punishing users, enforcement efforts should target the black-market supply chains, so that illegal networks profiting from prohibition can be dismantled.
It is also important to note that fragmented bans at the state level risk undermining legitimate businesses, fuel unregulated markets, and create contradictions with existing federal regulations that already provide controlled access.
It is imperative that countries like Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka carefully heed global lessons, and prioritise sensible regulation over outright prohibition, to ensure that consumers are protected, less harmful alternatives are available, and enforcement efforts are effectively directed at those who profit from prohibition. By doing so, these countries can create a path that both reduces smoking rates and safeguards public health, without repeating the failures witnessed in other countries.
(The writer is a tenured journalist, with 14-years of experience in the fields of Advertising and Public Relations. He has contributed to thought leadership articles covering multiple fields including Public Health, FMCG, Business and more.)