Nazri predicts youths will sue govt over generational smoking ban
This, he said, is if the Generational End Game (GEG) bill to ban smoking for those born from 2007 onwards is passed.
This is because the GEG will create a form of discrimination based on...
PARLIAMENT | Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz (BN-Padang Rengas) has predicted there will be a number of youths who will bring a case against the government in a few years for infringing on their freedom of choice.
This, he said, is if the Generational End Game (GEG) bill to ban smoking for those born from 2007 onwards is passed.
This is because the GEG will create a form of discrimination based on age, said the MP.
“I agree if we were to ban smoking outright, meaning they (those born in 2007 and later) cannot smoke and we also cannot smoke.
“Why the discrimination? You can say it is for a gradual introduction but then you create discrimination.
“I believe that eventually there will be 18-year-olds, two or three of them, who will bring a case to court and demand the court decide on whether their human rights have been violated due to this act,” Nazri (above) said.
He was speaking during his debate on the second reading of the Tobacco and Smoking Control Bill 2022 in the Dewan Rakyat today.
He stressed that freedom of choice is a very important human right that is enshrined in the Federal Constitution.
However, he said he entirely agrees with the Health Ministry on the dangers of smoking but that he is merely raising his concerns so the ministry can look into this matter.
Many have argued children need to be protected with the GEG bill but Nazri said those born in 2007 will be 18 years old when the GEG provisions are supposed to come into effect in 2025.
‘Certain freedoms are guaranteed’
“So we are actually not talking about children, we are talking about people who are 18 years old who can vote and in the Constitution, certain freedoms are guaranteed, that is they have the right to make a choice on smoking,” he said.
He also said there are ways to prevent secondhand smoking without banning smoking outright, such as the health minister’s powers to designate an area as a non-smoking area.
“But I don’t think we can police people in their homes,” he said.
The Tobacco and Smoking Control Bill 2022 was tabled for its second reading in the Dewan Rakyat today.
A section of the bill – widely known as the GEG – seeks to make it unlawful to sell tobacco products and smoking devices to those born from Jan 1, 2007 onwards, with the ban starting in 2025.
Aside from the GEG provisions, the bill also includes various regulations to control the sale of tobacco and vape products, which have been in the works since 2005.
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