Malaysia gov't faces tobacco wrath over ban delay

A tobacco giant that exhausted its inventory of small cigarette packets in anticipation of a ban threatened Thursday to take legal action against the Malaysian government for reportedly deciding to delay the prohibition.

The Malaysian affiliate of Philip Morris International voiced disappointment with what it called a "precipitous" decision that would be "a devastating blow not only to our business but to foreign investor confidence in Malaysia."

Tobacco companies in the Southeast Asian country have been phasing out parts of their inventory and manufacturing equipment in recent months ahead of a government ban on cigarette packets containing fewer than 20 cigarettes that was supposed to take effect June 1.

However, the financial newspaper The Edge reported Thursday that the government had decided to postpone the ban. The Malaysian Insider news website later quoted Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai as saying that authorities feared the ban would spark a surge in demand for illegally produced cigarettes.

Health Ministry officials said they could not immediately comment on the reports, and that Liow was traveling late Thursday and could not be contacted.

"In the absence of clarity surrounding this decision, (we) will have no choice but to evaluate all possible avenues, including legal recourse, to recover any losses the company may suffer," Richard Morgan, the managing director of Philip Morris in Malaysia, said in a statement.

"How can any corporation plan for its future and maintain its viability in an environment of such legal uncertainty, where decisions that are supposedly set in concrete can be overturned so rapidly and without any consultation?" the statement added.

The government had been planning the ban for years as part of efforts to curb smoking among young Malaysians who consider smaller cigarette packs more affordable.

The Malaysian Insider quoted Liow as saying the government would make a final decision in "a few months" on when the ban might be enforced.

The Enjoyment Of Cigarettes Is To Die For

Have you ever wondered exactly what it is that people get out of smoking tobacco? If you are a non-smoker, it is a question that you will probably never have an answer to. It is hard enough to answer even for a smoker. The enjoyment that they get from a cigarette can be so vague that they even question themselves what it does for them. It does not make them high like other drugs do, at least not in a way that they can actually feel. However, even though a smoker can not really feel the effects it has on their body, the nicotine that they inhale does promote subtle changes that satisfies a physical craving that is experienced by addicted smokers.

It could be said that besides the physical satisfaction derived from inhaling nicotine, they also get a sort of emotional satisfaction when they smoke. It perhaps comforts them in some way that a non-smoker could not understand. Perhaps they get the satisfaction akin to what a non-smoker would get from relaxing in a hot bath or enjoying a cup of coffee. It just feels good to relax and enjoy a smoke. Smokers try to achieve this sort of satisfaction from a cigarette sometimes twenty or more times a day after they have become addicted. It is a strange habit to say the least. With a drug addict of another kind, you can almost understand the attraction because a drug like heroine or cocaine can transport the user to a more euphoric state, but tobacco does not do that,

Whatever enjoyment that people derive from smoking tobacco, it is an enjoyment that they would die for, literally. Not that drugs like cocaine or heroine will not also kill the user after a long period of addiction. Smokers must admit that they are willing to die for their habit because so many of them do everyday. The diseases and illnesses they end up with all because of smoking cigarettes can not be denied. While there are many that eventually find a way to quit this nasty habit, there are millions more that never will They will go to there grave huffing for breath and puffing on that last smoke.

It is so difficult to comprehend why someone would sacrifice their good life all for the sake of inhaling smoke day after day. That is what they do. They wake up smoking, they go through their day smoking, and they go to bed smoking at night. They must have a cigarette when they get the urge for one or they can become terribly anxious and irritable in most cases. These are true signs of an addiction. The only hope a tobacco smoker has is if they realize soon enough that they must find a way to give up the habit. There are many approaches used for this and it is a shame when a person dies from smoking having never found one of them.