WE ARE witnessing a growing wave of state-led attempts to ban vape products with Opposition-led Perlis, Terengganu, and Kedah having announced prohibition of sales between August and December 2025 while Penang, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan are reportedly considering a similar move.
Publicly, political leaders and MPs are now echoing calls for a nationwide ban, citing concerns over drug-laced vape products and growing concern over youth vaping.
Let us be clear: these concerns are real but the proposed solutions are dangerously flawed. The reason we are seeing issues like underage use and contaminated products is not because of the legal vape industry.
It is because irresponsible, illegal retailers and criminal syndicates continue to operate without fear of consequences.
These bad actors have no regard for regulations, age restrictions or product safety. They are the ones supplying unregistered products, selling to minors and introducing dangerous substances into the supply chain.
Banning vape will not stop these criminals. It will only penalise legitimate and regulated businesses while empowering the black market.
Flourishing black market
As it is, political leaders who advocate vape ban are reacting to the harm caused by illegal and unregulated players.
But instead of focusing their efforts on enforcement to eliminate these elements, they propose a blanket ban that would wipe out responsible retailers, many of whom are registered and oin compliance with all current regulations.
If we take the easy way out and ban vape outright, we risk creating an entirely unregulated underground market. Everything will be black market. No age checks, no quality control, no accountability. This is the worst possible outcome for public health.
We must remember that the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 (Act 852) has now been introduced.
This is the very tool meant to bring vape into a regulated space, to ensure product safety, protect youth and allow only legal players to operate.
Why are we not focusing our energy on implementing this law effectively with robust enforcement to weed out the bad actors?
Irresponsible to ban vape
According to Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) Malaysia 2023 survey by the Institute for Public Health under the Health Ministry (MOH), the majority of vape users are aged 15 to 24 years-old.
But these numbers did not emerge under a regulated environment. They grew due the absence of a clear regulatory framework. This proves that prohibition does not work. What works is regulations, oversight and the political will to enforce the law.
In this regard, MRECA (the Malaysia Retail Electronic Cigarette Association) fully supports regulations.
We support clear rules that keep products out of the hands of minors and ensure safety for adult consumers. But we cannot support a system where the actions of criminal syndicates are used to justify blanket bans that harm legitimate businesses.
With Act 852 already in place, the focus must be on moving forward: implementing it with urgency, investing in enforcement and strengthening the regulatory framework so that only responsible, compliant players remain in the market.
Banning regulated products is not a solution but an abdication of responsibility that hands the market over to criminals.
If we want to protect public health and consumer safety, we must stay the course, enforce the law decisively and commit to building a legal, transparent vape industry that operates within clear and accountable boundaries. – June 10, 2025
Datuk Adzwan Abdul Manas is the Malaysia Retail Electronic Cigarette Association (MRECA) president.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
