Smoke without fire

MILLIONS of tax ringgit were spent on the ‘Tak Nak’ campaign and yet, more people took up smoking. Without serious evaluation to ascertain whether the behavioural objectives have been met, money obviously went up in smoke with no benefit to the targeted group.

Now, the tax on cigarettes has been increased again. The aim, supposedly, is to reduce smoking among the youths. Will the price hike result in more youths turning to cheaper, smuggled cigarettes?