KUALA LUMPUR, April 8 — The government’s move to exempt nicotine from the Poisons Act will allow vape devices to be sold openly and legally to anyone including children, said Malaysian Medical Association President Dr Muruga Raj Rajathurai.

In a statement, he stressed that nicotine is a dangerous and highly addictive substance, pointing to scientific evidence on the harmful effect of vaping on health.

"The government must be accountable for this decision and show that it is committed to the Generational End Game (GEG) which seeks to prohibit the sale and use of any form of smoking material, including electronic cigarettes or vape products, to individuals born on Jan 1, 2007, onwards,” he said.

He said the Health Ministry must show that it is equally committed to eradicating vape addiction with nationwide anti-vaping campaigns through the mass media, social media and at the community level.

He warned that if the government does not address the issue of growing vape addiction in the country, all the tax revenue collected from the vape industry will not be enough to cover the medical costs of health issues caused by vape addiction.

Dr Muruga said Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa held a meeting with MMA two days ago to explain that the government’s move in exempting nicotine from the Poisons Act was due to the government’s plans to tax vape liquids from April 1st onwards.

"During the meeting, the Health Minister admitted that it is not the ideal scenario given that the Control of Tobacco Product and Smoking Bill 2022 has not yet been passed,” he said.

"Dr Zaliha said that it was with a ‘heavy heart’ that she had signed off on the exemption of nicotine from the Poisons Act that will allow vape liquids including liquids containing nicotine, to be taxed,” he added.

He said the government could have waited until the Control of Smoking and Tobacco Products Bill 2022 is tabled and passed first before proceeding with the exemption of nicotine from the Poisons Act.

"Health concerns must come first above all,” he said.

He said MMA along with the Malaysian Council for Tobacco Control (MCTC), National Cancer Society of Malaysia (NCSM) and the Malaysian Pharmacists Society (MPS) had postponed a press conference on this issue to listen to the health minister’s explanation on this issue.

"We have heard the ministry’s explanation and still do not find the reasons given acceptable,” he said.

Earlier this month, Putrajaya gazetted an excise duty for liquids with nicotine content at 40 sen per millilitre in its bid tax the vape industry.

Following this, Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said her ministry would table a new law to regulate nicotine use which will include the Generation End Game (GEG) policy at the next Parliament sitting in May.