THE government's anti-smoking policies stretch back almost 50 years.
The law in the early decades mandated a general warning on cigarette packs, smoking bans in public areas and a ban on cigarette advertising on public television and radio.
The administration then, helmed by a visionary medical doctor, recognised the dangers of teenagers picking up the habit. These initiatives killed the popularity of walking a mile for a stick, puffing away while strutting to a disco beat and inhaling noxious smoke while embracing the high-adventure lifestyle portrayed by films and advertisments.
Of course, the blitz could not completely banish smoking. It was undermined by free advertising and marketing: peer pressure and parental examples.
It's why teenage smoking persists despite stiff regulations and campaigns, including the ban on the sale of cigarettes to minors in 1994. It may have cut the habit, with the percentage of smokers dwindling to 23.8 per cent of the population, but it wasn't fool-proof.
The National Institutes of Health found that as far back as 2012, the United States tobacco-control programme suffered from ineffectively conveyed messages, as well as poor exposure and execution.
Poorly enforced laws, defiant retailers and cheap, easy access to cigarettes compounded the problem.
Malaysian cigarette retailers are now rallying against their existential threat by resisting Putrajaya's anti-smoking initiatives.
To wit: the innocuous rule on changes to smoking product display cabinets. The cigarrette retailers claim that it puts undue financial pressure on small traders. Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad rightly dismissed the claims as unreasonable, but his rationale that the resistance "stretches the imagination" may have missed the point.
Of course, retailers can afford to change their display cabinets: they just don't want to accede because that would mean another blow to their diminishing business model.
Since a fatwa can't be used to dissuade smokers, the government has to devise more inventive rulings. Smokers were barred from lighting up in restaurants, but they naturally defied the rule, with some even willing to pay the fine for a puff.
The government pushback against commercial tobacco pressures that imperil public safety may have reached its limit, so it's time for the implementation of new strategies that go beyond education and restrictions. This means multiple strategies to tackle the problem and improve anti-tobacco campaigns, especially for teenagers.
In parallel, law enforcement has to be reinforced, tobacco duties raised and cigarette smuggling curbed.
The bottom line is the government should not heed commercial opposition to long-term anti-smoking policies.