14-a-pack ban won’t affect cigarette sales

Star: The ban on the sale of 14-a-pack cigarettes from June 1 will make smokers buy packets containing 20 sticks, China Press reported.
The daily quoted Federation of Sundry Goods Merchants Association of Malaysia president Lean Hing Chuan as saying that the sales of cigarettes would not be affected by the ban.
He said he believed smokers would not give up their habit following the ban.
“They will now resort to buying packets containing 20 sticks,” he said.
He said the increase in cigarette price had not deterred consumers from smoking but drove them towards cheaper or imitation cigarettes.
The daily also quoted the Selangor-Kuala Lumpur Coffee Shops and Restaurants Owners Association secretary Fong Chin Peng as saying that smokers will only quit the habit if cigarette prices were raised again.