The Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy welcomes the High Court’s decision striking down the government’s 2023 removal of liquid and gel nicotine from the Poisons List under the Poisons Act 1952.
This is a significant victory for public health, for Malaysia’s children, and for the rule of law. What happens next for nicotine vape and e-cigarettes?
This decision is a vindication of what public health advocates, health professionals, pharmacists, tobacco control experts, child rights groups, and the Galen Centre had warned from the very beginning: the delisting of nicotine was reckless, regressive, and placed the health of Malaysians, especially children and young people, at unnecessary risk.
The then-health minister’s order went against the unanimous advice of the Poisons Board which rejected the move on medical and health grounds. You cannot convene the Board and then disregard its position entirely.
Today’s ruling upholds that basic principle of good governance and confirms what public health experts consistently warned.
The court’s finding that the decision was irrational and made without proper consultation with the Poisons Board is deeply significant. It confirms that public health decisions involving dangerous and addictive substances cannot be made casually, politically, or for revenue purposes.
Nicotine is not an ordinary consumer product. It is a highly addictive substance and should never have been treated as a mere taxable commodity.
Consultation with expert statutory bodies such as the Poisons Board must be meaningful, transparent, and respected.
For one year and seven months, before the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 (Act 852) came into force in October 2024, Malaysia created a dangerous legal and regulatory gap. During that period, nicotine vape products were widely available and aggressively marketed, including in forms, flavours, and packaging attractive to children and adolescents.
Act 852 is now in force and provides an important framework to regulate tobacco and vape products.
The economic rationale for delisting also never held up. Despite the value of Malaysia’s vape industry being estimated at RM2 billion, the tax on nicotine liquids, which was the raison d’etre for the delisting, introduced in May 2023 at 40 sen per ml, generated only over RM209.5 million up to August 2025. Despite claims, tax revenue from nicotine vape was never going to outpace the healthcare bill.
However, we now have to ask what happens now that the delisting of liquid or gel nicotine used for vape and e-cigarettes from the list of controlled substances under the Poisons Act 1952.
This court decision, which puts the proverbial genie back in the bottle and renders the sale and collection of taxes on nicotine vape mostly illegal, places the government in a serious predicament: secure a stay and appeal the decision, be forced to repeat the whole process of delisting it again, placing the current health minister in the same predicament as his predecessor, or ban the product altogether.
Malaysia cannot afford another nicotine policy failure. We should not be creating a new generation addicted to nicotine through products which are colourful, flavoured, easily accessible, and falsely marketed as harmless.
The Galen Centre commends the Malaysian Council for Tobacco Control, Malaysian Green Lung Association, and Voice of the Children for their perseverance in bringing this judicial review.
Azrul Mohd Khalib is the chief executive of the Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy.
- This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of CodeBlue.
