Health advocates urge reinstatement of nicotine controls after court ruling
GEORGE TOWN: Health advocates have expressed cautious relief following a recent Kuala Lumpur High Court ruling that declared as invalid the exemption of liquid nicotine and nicotine gel used in vape products from the Poisons List after a judicial review filed by the Malaysian Council for Tobacco Control, Green Lung Malaysia and Voice of the Children.
The judge ruled that the exemption was driven primarily by economic considerations and had been granted before the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 (Act 852) came into force on Oct 1 last year.
READ MORE: Malaysia risks losing a generation of youths to nicotine addiction?
In a statement issued on May 17, the Health Ministry said it would consult the Attorney-General’s Chambers on the legal implications of the ruling before deciding on its next course of action.
The ministry said the decision reflected a functioning system of checks and balances, while reaffirming its commitment to enforcing laws aimed at protecting minors from smoking and vaping products.
National Cancer Society Malaysia managing director Dr Murallitharan Munisamy said the consequences of the exemption had been foreseeable.
He told theSun that health groups had warned from the outset that removing nicotine from the Poisons List would make it easier for young people to access vape products before adequate safeguards were in place.
“Deregulation expanded nicotine use instead of reducing it.
“Many young users had already developed dependency long before Act 852 came into force. By the time the law took effect, the problem had become deeply entrenched, fuelling an illicit market that continues to grow.”
The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA), which participated in the judicial review as amicus curiae, or friend of the court, urged the government not to appeal the decision and instead reinstate liquid nicotine under the Poisons Act.
Its president Datuk Dr Thirunavukarasu Rajoo noted that the Poisons Board had unanimously recommended against the delisting in 2023.
Malaysian Pharmacists Society president Prof Amrahi Buang described nicotine as a pharmacologically active and dependency-forming substance that requires proper regulatory oversight. “It should not be treated as just another taxable consumer product.”
The Generational Endgame (GEG) proposal, introduced in 2022 by then health minister Khairy Jamaluddin, sought to permanently prohibit the sale of tobacco and vaping products to anyone born on or after Jan 1, 2007, even after reaching adulthood.
The proposal was re-tabled in 2023 but later stripped of its GEG provisions following constitutional objections before Act 852 was eventually passed.
Meanwhile, the 2023 exemption allowed nicotine-containing vape products to be sold freely for about 18 months before the law took effect.
Consumers Association of Penang senior education officer N.V. Subbarow welcomed the High Court ruling as a victory for public health and called on the government to reinstate nicotine under the Poisons Act while reviving the GEG proposal.
He also raised concerns over the growing circulation of drug-laced vape liquids among students, saying some young users had progressed from flavoured products to potent “zombie” blends capable of inducing an intense high.
“They know where to get it. Many parents are still unaware of how serious this has become.”
Earlier this week, six individuals were arrested after videos shared online allegedly showed them using suspected drug-laced vape products.
Health groups now warn that Malaysia risks producing an entire generation dependent on nicotine, the very outcome the GEG proposal was originally designed to prevent.
