Khairy pointed out that harm reduction was for those who smoked, while the GEG bill would ensure that no Malaysians born after 2007 would pick up the habit.
“Why do we want to allow initiation for those who have not (started) smoking yet?” he said at a press conference when asked about opposition to the GEG bill due to the curbs on vape products.
“That’s what I don’t understand about harm reduction advocates. They say that vaping devices are less harmful compared to cigarettes and therefore we should allow them.
“This bill does allow it (purchase of vape devices) for those who were born before 2007. But for those born after that, why are we even giving them the option to smoke anything?”
Khairy said he wanted to regulate the vape industry, adding that it could be considered as being illegal since it had never been subject to any regulations before this.
Once vaping devices were regulated, he said, harm reduction advocates could champion their use as a healthier alternative for those who smoked.
“We are cutting off the initiation (through the GEG bill), which is what the harm reduction advocates don’t understand,” he said.
The GEG bill seeks to ban the use, possession and sale of cigarettes and vape products to those born after 2007.
Last week, Khairy said the bill was still being studied by a parliamentary select committee (PSC), but he remained hopeful that the legislation would be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat next month.
Meanwhile, Khairy said his ministry had just received the Attorney-General’s Chambers’ (AGC) research findings on decriminalising suicide, which would also be discussed with the home ministry and police.
He said these findings would be used to review a previous Cabinet memorandum on the matter.
He noted that the home ministry seemed to be “not on board” with decriminalising suicide when he first proposed the matter to the Cabinet.
“So we will see whether they (home ministry) can be influenced into supporting the efforts to decriminalise suicide. Whether this bill is tabled in the coming parliamentary sitting (in October) depends a lot on the Cabinet’s decision.”
In March, law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said a study on the proposed amendments to the Penal Code was almost ready and would be submitted to the Cabinet.
Under the Penal Code, an attempt to commit suicide is a criminal offence punishable by up to a year’s jail, or a fine, or both.