February 6, 2025
PETALING JAYA – Regulating rather than banning vaping products outright will allow authorities to better control the vaping and smoking ecosystem, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad (pic).
“Arguably, the approach of banning may seem theoretically attractive, but practically impossible – we have vape being sold here for more than 10 years – by merely acting to ban it but unable to affect its availability in the street, it’s merely empty legislation,” he told The Star.
Dzulkefly said regulating vaping will allow the government to “control the safety of devices and content of (vaping) liquid to make sure they adhere to standards, adding that even countries like Thailand and Singapore, which have banned vaping, “have usage in rising percentages”.
He said with new regulations on smoking products, the government will be able to monitor and prevent sales to minors.
“We are putting clear mechanisms into place for this, as well as to prevent smuggling which will then drive other activities, including drugs to be used alongside or within vape,” he said.
The first phase of the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 (Act 852) came into force on Oct 1 last year, where it seeks to cover regulations on registration, sale, packaging, labelling, and prohibition of smoking in public places.
The Health Ministry will carry out educational enforcement for regulations concerning the registration and display of smoking products until March 31, while the grace period on packaging and labelling ends on Sept 30.
“The fact is more than five million Malaysians are addicted to nicotine. Merely banning a tool of nicotine delivery is not going to stop their addiction,” he said, adding that through regulation, the government is able to control the amount of nicotine in smoking devices, as well as to “introduce economic measures which will have a behavioural nudging effect”.
“Coupled with widespread upscaling of our preventive efforts and cessation efforts, which will be funded in no small part from the taxes we impose on legal products, we will be able to reduce demand and dependence on nicotine. These are the primary reasons why we didn’t go down the road to ban vape.
“We have clear regulations on the content of e-liquid, including the levels of nicotine, and there are clear exit plans under the regulations to move away from disposable vapes altogether,” he added.
Dzulkefly said the unregulated vape market has been in existence since 2014, way before the law was passed.
“With the new law and regulations now in place, the government is working to wash out vape which do not conform to regulations, echoing the practice standards of other countries with similar issues.
“We continue to be focused on the safety of the public at large and ensuring vulnerable populations, including children and teenagers, are protected from vaping,” he added.
On Jan 31, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s senior political secretary Datuk Seri Shamsul Iskandar reportedly said that it is difficult for the government to totally ban vaping, adding there is a need for better regulation to prevent the sale of vape liquids mixed with illegal substances as the vape industry is largely dominated by young entrepreneurs.