International public health experts called on Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob to reconsider the government’s plan to prohibit the sale of tobacco and smoke-free nicotine products to those born after 2005, which they said may eventually create a large black market and fuel the illicit trade of these products.

In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Yaakob on 21 February 2022, academics and tobacco harm reduction advocates David Abrams, Clive Bates, Ray Niaura and David Sweanor said the prohibitionist policy may have unintended consequences such as the growth of the black market for cigarettes and alternative nicotine products.