Dr Sharifa Ezat Wan Puteh of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia said Putrajaya could regulate the sale of such products to specific groups via the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024.
She said public health experts had stated that electronic cigarettes were meant to help smokers wean themselves off the habit.
“There is no need for teenagers and non-smokers to purchase vape products, therefore they should not be sold to them,” she told FMT.
Sharifa Ezat also said there had been many cases of vape being abused, adding that the product was widely sold.
“Even non-smokers are vaping, and that should not be the case,” she said.
It was reported two days ago that the health ministry was ready to reconsider a full ban on vape if the situation demanded it.
Health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad however said that the priority was to regulate and control the use of vape, including through mandatory product registration, Malaysiakini reported.
He said this when commenting on a statement by Shamsul Iskandar Akin, the prime minister’s political secretary, that it would be difficult for the government to impose a total ban on vaping.
Dr Nur Amani Natasha Ahmad Tajuddin of Universiti Malaya disagreed, saying the use of vape did not help smokers kick the habit.
Calling for a total ban, she said scientific studies had shown that smokers either revert to cigarettes or smoke and vape.
Amani also sought to correct “misconceptions” about vape liquids, saying a 2021 study by Johns Hopkins University had shown that they contain nearly 2,000 dangerous chemicals.
She said several of these were linked to heart attacks, various types of cancer, and strokes, and could also cause depression.
Amani, a coordinator for a group of researchers looking into nicotine addiction, also called on Putrajaya to emulate Thailand, Singapore, and Brunei which had banned vape.
“The cost of treating ailments caused by vaping is higher than the tax the government would collect from the sale of vape.
“The negatives of permitting vape are much higher than the positives for the vape industry.”