Plug loophole to cut access to e-cigarettes by children govt urged

KUALA LUMPUR: The National Cancer Society (NCS) has called on the government to immediately plug the loophole that allows children to buy and use e-cigarettes.

Its managing director Dr Muralitharan Munisamy said the April 1 decision to remove nicotine from the Poisons Act 1952 was a huge mistake as it allows children direct access to e-cigarettes.

Muralitharan, who is also Malaysian Council for Tobacco Control chairman, said the umbrella body, which includes more than 40 health-related organisations, has spoken strongly against the government’s move.

“With nicotine in e-cigarettes being ‘legal’ now, there has been a large increase of new users, including children. This shortcoming should be immediately addressed.

“Either nicotine be reinstated in the Poisons Act or a new Bill be passed to outlaw children from using or gaining access to e-cigarettes,” he said.

Muralitharan reiterated that contrary to the tobacco industry’s narrative, e-cigarettes are not an alternative to smoking.

“Evidence on the ground shows that smokers are not switching to e-cigarettes but are becoming dual users of conventional cigarettes and e-cigarettes.

“So, e-cigarettes are not promoting harm reduction or substitution as the tobacco industry claims. Instead, they are intensifying harm by exposing the public to (both) vaping and smoking.”

Muralitharan said it is confusing that in response to the growing danger of smoking, the government proposed the Control of Tobacco Products and Smoking Bill, in which one of its sections will prohibit the sale and use of any form of smoking material to individuals born from Jan 1, 2007 onwards, but at the same time, it removed nicotine from the Poisons Act, thus endangering children.

“The ban is not intended to be overarching as only individuals who turn 18 will be banned from purchasing or using tobacco-related products in their lifetime.

“We need to end nicotine addiction regardless of the delivery devices. The tobacco industry is peddling the narrative that e-cigarettes will help smokers to kick the habit.

“But the last thing the industry wants is to end nicotine addiction because this is what keeps consumers smoking or vaping. To end nicotine addiction, any anti-smoking Bill must target conventional cigarettes and e-cigarettes,” he stressed.

Muralitharan also said the Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) strategy is a legitimate public health mechanism, but the proposal to implement it in Malaysia is an industry narrative.

“THR manipulates health concepts to confuse users and the public. The industry version is merely looking to provide a substitute to smoking cigarettes and continue the addiction to nicotine.”

THR involves providing tobacco users who are unwilling or unable to quit using nicotine products with less harmful nicotine-containing products for continued use.

Muralitharan said nicotine has been a scourge to Malaysians since the early 1970s. The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that smoking rates nearly doubled from the 1970s to 1995.

Tobacco Atlas, a partnership between Vital Strategies and Tobacconomics at the University of Illinois in the US, found that in 2016, the annual cigarette consumption per person in Malaysia was 441.2 sticks.

Muralitharan also said nicotine no longer involves just cigarettes but encompasses Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) such as e-cigarettes. The growing use of ENDS in Malaysia is also worrying health experts due to the potential long-term risks presented by e-cigarettes.

While he said e-cigarettes do not contain carcinogens from the conventional burning of tobacco, the vapour contains many different carcinogenic chemicals that cause acute damage to lungs.

Data from WHO also suggests that e-cigarettes contain many toxic materials that damage both users and non-users. Vapour from e-cigarettes contains formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and carcinogenic nitrosamines.

Muralitharan said the primary ingredient of vapes is nicotine, which can cause cardiovascular, neurological and gastrointestinal damage. It also causes mutations that could lead to cancer.

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