The Malaysian Pediatric Association (MPA) is concerned by the reported decision of the Poisons Board to support removing nicotine-containing vape liquids from the Poisons List, and by the government’s move to legalise rather than prohibit these products. Let us be clear.
The science on nicotine has not changed in three years. Nicotine is still addictive and harmful.
In 2023, the Poisons Board unanimously rejected a similar exemption, warning it would enable the sale of nicotine vapes to children. Today, the same Board supports it.
If there is new evidence, it must be published for public and professional scrutiny. If there is none, this decision cannot be justified.
We accept that Act 852 now exists. However, passing a law is not the same as protecting children. Legalising a product while promising stronger enforcement places the burden on teachers, parents, doctors, and the health care system.
Children and young people are exactly who the industry targets. The industry sells sweet and fruity flavours like mango and cotton candy. It designs sleek, colourful devices that look cool.
It markets through social media platforms popular with the young. It is the same playbook used for decades. Hook them young, keep them for life.
A child addicted at 15 is a customer for the next 40 years. Furthermore, the hook sets faster in the young because the developing brain is more sensitive to nicotine. Early experimentation can become dependence very quickly. This is why the window for prevention is so narrow.
A 12-year-old cannot grasp what lifelong nicotine addiction means. Their brains are still developing. Their choices are not free choices in any meaningful sense.
And once addicted, the choice to stop is no longer free. A child cannot negotiate with a multinational industry that has lawyers, marketers, and lobbyists on its side. The law must correct that imbalance.
Protecting children from nicotine is not paternalistic overreach. We already stop children from driving, drinking, and signing contracts. It is the same principle here.
We are not controlling adults. We are shielding those who cannot shield themselves. When the evidence shows harm and the victims are children, inaction is complicity. This is our duty.
The MPA stands for a generation free from nicotine. A policy that legalises nicotine vapes while promising enforcement is not a balanced compromise.
It is a gamble with the child’s right to an open future. We are not willing to take that gamble.
Erwin Khoo Jiayuan is honorary secretary of MPA and the head of the Paediatrics Department, IMU University, Intan Juliana Abd Hamid is president of MPA and head of Clinical Medicine Department (PKTAAB), Universiti Sains Malaysia, and Thiyagar Nadarajaw is an adolescent medicine specialist and the dean of AIMST University.
- This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of CodeBlue.
