VAPE has been proven to be an effective smoking cessation tool as it is capable of reducing the harms of tobacco and lowering the population of smokers.
If vape is used as a strategy to reduce the risk of tobacco in addition to nicotine replacement therapy, the rate of smokers in Malaysia is capable of decreasing from 4.88 million in 2019 to 4 million in 2025, according to the Malaysia Society for Harm Reduction (MSHR) chairman Prof Dr Sharifa Ezat Wan Puteh.
“However, regulations of vape liquid is important as tampering with illicit products might induce EVALI outbreaks as the use of VEA (vitamin E acetate) and THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) might become notoriously rampant,” opined the community health physician and health economics specialist from the Faculty of Medicine of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).
“MSHR believes that the generation end game (GEG) policy that is being mooted by the MoH may work but prohibiting RRPs (reduced-risk products) would be counter-productive as it positions vape to be equally harmful as cigarettes. Smokers also do not have any alternative to switch to a safer alternative.”
Echoing the sentiment raised by Dr Sharifa Ezat is Advanced Centre for Addiction Treatment Advocacy (ACATA) president Dr Arifin Fii who stressed that there are many credible, undisputed evidence that has shown the benefits of vape as a smoking cessation tool.
“Unfortunately, these facts have not been given due consideration in the drafting of the Tobacco and Smoking Control Bill, and particularly the GEG policy,” he told the forum “Managing Smoking Addiction in Malaysia” hosted by MSHR and moderated by Dr Sharifa Ezat.
“In my opinion, this is a clear indicator that not enough time was, and is being allocated to review the Bill before implementation. We cannot afford to be careless in developing and implementing such an important policy as the consequences can be dire.”
As such, Arfin recommended delaying the implementation of the tobacco Bill by using the time to carefully study and consider all available data.
“Vape is never meant for recreational purposes or for youngsters. The additional time would also allow Malaysia to study the viability of vape as a harm reduction tool in the country,” he opined.
“Vape risks are always compared against cigarette smokers but should not be compared with nicotine naive lungs. Complete reviews must be based on other country’s data that has shown its success such as the UK, New Zealand and Japan” – Sept 2, 2022
