Kota Kinabalu: For decades, Sabahans have lived with the scourge of illicit products. Smuggled cigarettes sold openly around Central Market, the acrid stench of contraband smoke, and discarded stubs littering the streets are everyday reminders of how entrenched the black market has become.
A recent NielsenIQ study revealed that illegal cigarettes now make up 54.6% of all cigarettes sold nationwide. Sabah, alongside Johor and Selangor, remains a key hotspot for smuggling, fuelled by poverty and porous borders. Here, illicit cigarettes have become the norm — despite the fact that cigarettes themselves are not banned.
This is the crucial point: even for a legal, regulated product like cigarettes, the illicit market dominates what more if there was an outright ban? If Malaysia proceeds with a nationwide vape ban, the outcome is predictable — the illicit trade in vapes will surge, just as it has for cigarettes.
Philip Morris International’s Senior Vice President of External Affairs, Christos Harpantidis noted that enforcement must be paired with the right policies to address illicit trade effectively.
“To have the optimal effect, however, law enforcement efforts need to be complemented with the right policy framework. Excessive policies do not work. Excessive regulations or extremely high taxation of cigarettes are pushing consumers that have affordability challenges to the black market.”The danger of prohibitionAcross the world, history has shown that prohibition is rarely successful. The United States tried to eliminate alcohol in the 1920s, only to fuel organised crime and lose enormous tax revenues, before abandoning the policy in 1933.
Closer to home, state-level bans on vaping in Johor, Kelantan, Terengganu, Perlis and Pahang have failed to curb access. Vapes remain widely available through the black market. Even Singapore — with its small borders and strict enforcement — has not kept illicit vapes out.
In just the first half of 2024, Singaporean authorities caught 5,480 people for vape possession or use, already two-thirds of the total number arrested in the whole of 2023.
There are also growing reports of illicit vape products being laced with synthetic drugs, raising even greater public health concerns.
Why Sabah is especially at riskSabah’s experience shows how vulnerable it would be under a vape ban. Cigarettes remain legal, yet more than half sold here are illicit. That reality highlights the strength of smuggling networks and the difficulty of enforcement on the ground.
If vapes were banned, demand would not disappear — it would be driven further underground, empowering the same smuggling networks that already control cigarette supply.
The state would face an even bigger black market problem, with consumers exposed to unregulated, potentially more dangerous products.
Sabah’s Community Development and People’s Wellbeing Minister Datuk James Ratib has indicated that the state prefers stricter regulation over an outright ban.
His position reflects a pragmatic recognition that prohibition has little chance of success in an environment where illicit trade is already thriving.
Regulation, not prohibitionThe lesson from Sabah is clear. Prohibition does not eliminate demand, it only strengthens the black market. Regulation backed by effective enforcement is a more sustainable path.
Such an approach ensures that consumers have access to safer, regulated products, while enabling the government to collect tax revenue that would otherwise be lost to smugglers. It also protects legitimate businesses trying to operate within the law.
Sabah’s streets already show what happens when illicit trade takes hold. For Malaysia, the choice is whether to repeat the same mistakes with vaping, or to pursue regulation that protects public health, safeguards livelihoods, and secures revenue for the nation.