THE Consumer Choice Centre (CCC) has expressed cautious support for the government’s new regulatory framework for vape products.
While welcoming the initiative to regulate these products, its Malaysia country associate Tarmizi Anuwar raised concerns regarding the prohibition on promoting vaping as a smoking cessation tool.
“Vape products have been shown in numerous studies to be effective in helping smokers’ transition away from combustible cigarettes which pose far greater health risks,” he observed in a media statement.
“Research from multiple countries highlights that vaping is at least 95% less harmful than smoking and twice more effective at helping smokers quit than any nicotine lozenge, patch, or spray.”
A 2023 study entitled “Exhaled Carbon Monoxide Level and Practices among Tobacco and Nicotine Adult Users in Klang Valley, Malaysia” by health experts from the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Faculty of Medicine has shown that 68.2% of respondents successfully transitioned from conventional cigarettes to electronic cigarettes.
The findings further indicates that users of electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products exhale far fewer noxious aerosols compared to the stream of a lit cigarette.
This means that they pose less danger of second-hand smoke effects on bystanders. As such, the Malaysian study suggests that the targeted use of vaping products can effectively manage nicotine dependence.
Tarmizi further commented on the economic and public health benefits of allowing vape products to be recognised as a cessation tool.
“Enabling smokers to switch to less harmful alternatives not only has the potential to reduce healthcare costs linked to smoking-related illnesses but also alleviates the financial burden on consumers over time,” he stated.
“By incorporating vaping as part of a harm reduction strategy, we’re offering consumers an effective, less costly route to quitting smoking.”
In addition to the cessation tool clause, CCC urges the government to re-consider the retail display ban on vape products.
This is because the ban risks creating an unfair playing field which is potentially disadvantageous to smaller businesses, hence stifling harm-reduction innovation within the industry.
“Innovation in the industry should be encouraged – not discouraged – and that requires a fair and open market environment,” Tarmizi pointed out.
“A retail display ban may push consumers back to smoking cigarettes by making vape products less visible and accessible, undermining the goal of reducing smoking rates.” – Nov 15, 2024
