Kuala Lampur, June 15 -- Every year, World No Tobacco Day brings renewed calls for stricter tobacco and nicotine control measures.

This year, several advocacy groups in Malaysia have urged the government to ban vape products and further increase tobacco taxes.

While these proposals are often framed as public health solutions, good policy should be judged by outcomes rather than intentions.

The growing call for a blanket vape ban rests on a simple assumption: if legal products are removed from the market, consumption will decline. Experience from other countries suggests otherwise.

Countries that have adopted highly restrictive approaches towards vaping continue to struggle with unintended consequences.

Despite maintaining one of the ...