KUALA LUMPUR: The Anti-Drug Association of Malaysia (Pemadam) is urging that awareness campaigns on the misuse of vape and cigarettes be intensified.
Pemadam Women, Family and Cure Bureau chairman Datuk Jamelah A. Bakar said the association was concerned with the data showing 43,019 secondary school students were found to be involved in smoking and e-cigarette activities.
“The Malaysian government needs to consider the spread of e-cigarettes seriously. There are business financing schemes by institutions that offer easy loans if the applicant intends to go into the vape business,” she said in a statement yesterday.
In line with the government’s aspiration of creating a Cigarette End Generation, the association is convinced that the Health Ministry will table the Control of Tobacco Products and Smoking Bill that will be the core to controlling the spread of vape and cigarettes.
Deputy Health Minister Lukanisman Awang Sauni had been reported to have said that screening conducted on 1.3 million secondary school students under the Oral Health Without Cigarette Smoke (KOTAK) last year revealed that 43,019 students were involved with smoking.
Jamelah also said that cigarettes and vape, or e-cigarettes served as entry points to drug abuse, with the Narcotics Department of the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) reporting cases of syndicates mixing drugs into vape liquid.
“Ketamine, magic mushrooms, cannabis extract, syabu are hidden in fruity, creamy or free base flavours. This clearly shows that e-cigarettes have the potential to be misused with various dangerous drugs,” she said.
She believed that measures to create the legal bill could solve tax policy issues as the products would be comprehensively monitored, along with promotional and advertising activities.
At the Dewan Rakyat sitting yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim provided assurances that the bill relating to the control of tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, would be tabled during the Dewan Rakyat sitting in May. - Bernama
