Several local studies and a recent public survey by CodeBlue and the Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy found significant prevalence of e-cigarette use among people who never smoked and in dual users of tobacco and vape.
Although Khairy Jamaluddin can table the Tobacco Bill, which includes provisions on the generation smoking ban, anytime during the current Dewan Rakyat meeting, delaying it may increase chances of failed passage, like with the Act 342 amendment Bill in the last meeting.
Nurul Izzah Anwar supports the cohort smoking ban, but Ong Kian Ming says the Tobacco and Smoking Control Bill should go through the Health PSC first, while Charles Santiago moots a cost-benefit analysis.
Khairy Jamaluddin says the Poisons Act is being amended to be in line with current needs, but did not specify if the sale of nicotine by non-medical parties would be allowed after the government announced a tax on vaping liquids containing nicotine.
The Federation of Private Medical Practitioners Associations Malaysia (FPMPAM) says the taxation levels for THR products in Malaysia must remain risk-proportionate, benchmarked against high-risk products such as cigarettes.