Gambar hiasan
Dear Editor,

Last year, Parliament passed the Control of Smoking Products For Public Health Bill 2023 , leading to the implementation of a crucial law aimed at protecting our children and aiding adult smokers in quitting the habit. In the process, the government has stumbled upon some challenges in achieving the said goals, especially with regards to vaping.

Due to insufficient regulation and enforcement in the vape industry, there’s been a surge of illegal candy and fruit-flavoured vape products targeting our children especially from China.

These illicit products have inundated our communities, including through online shopping platforms, making it challenging for law enforcement and retailers to differentiate between legal and illegal products.

This impedes efforts to use vape products as a tool to help smokers kick the habit. The fact of the matter is that there’s mounting evidence from scientists and researchers that vape is an effective cessation tool.

In the past, many resorted to nicotine replacement gums and patches to help wean themselves off cigarettes. While nicorette gum and nicotine patches are now readily available at local pharmacies, vapes are not. We still continue to unfairly demonise vaping products.
This is largely due to easy access to vaping products, including illegal and unregulated ones, including to those under 18 when the law clearly prohibits that. This has resulted in vaping getting a bad rap, hence preventing it from being used as a tool to kick the smoking addiction.
There’s a reason why vapes, like all tobacco products, are illegal for sale to anyone under the age of 18. These youth prevention policies, along with educational programs, have successfully driven youth smoking rates to the lowest levels in history.
In this respect we need to understand that nicotine is not the primary cause of health issues in tobacco products. Nicotine, naturally derived from the tobacco leaf, has been used by humans for thousands of years despite its addictive nature.
The true danger in cigarettes comes from the combustion process—burning the tobacco and paper—which creates harmful toxins. If one is not burning and inhaling smoke, the health risks are significantly reduced.

Malaysia has the potential to be a global leader in helping smokers transition away from cigarettes to less harmful alternatives, but change must begin at the top. Our health authorities must regulate a functional marketplace that provides alternatives to adult smokers and step up enforcement.

A stringent yet clear approval process for these products is necessary. Without it, we risk a continued influx of illegal disposable vapes that ironically have become the most popular choice among teenagers.

Lee Chong Kiat

Artikel BerkaitanLagi artikel dari penulis