Regulate, not ban, lower risk tobacco products

SMOKING is probably the single largest avoidable cause of death and disease in Singapore. The smoking habit also tends to be more prevalent among lower-income individuals; this makes smoking a major contributor to social inequality in health.

For decades, health authorities in Singapore and elsewhere have sought to reduce the harm caused by smoking in two ways. The first is to increase taxation of tobacco products; the second involves efforts to de-normalise smoking (for example, by banning tobacco advertising and restricting the places where smokers can light up).

This two-pronged approach has yielded some progress. In Singapore, the percentage of daily smokers fell from about 20 per cent in 1991 to just over 13 per cent in 2001. But it has remained at this level for over a decade - prompting calls by some for the authorities to take more draconian measures to restrict access to tobacco products.