Two Malaysian boys were caught smoking vape on a video that went viral on social media recently.
The video shows one of the boys holding a vape pod and taking a puff from it before handing it to another boy.
The individual who recorded the video asked where the vape had come from, to which one of them claimed that it was purchased for RM500. The individual also asked if the money to buy the vape was obtained from their ‘duit raya’.
As the boys continued vaping, one of them said, “Rather than smoking cigarettes, it’s better to vape.”
According to Harian Metro, concerns have arisen over the fact that vaping is becoming more accepted by society and ‘contagious’ to kids.
Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia (UIAM) lecturer, Prof Madya Dr Mohamad Haniki Nik Mohamed said a study on Tobacco and Electronic Cigarettes among Malaysian Adolescents (TECMA) was conducted and the results showed that 19.1% of adolescents aged 10 to 19 had used e-cigarettes.
“More worryingly, 46.5% of them tried electronic cigarettes for the first time before the age of 14. A total of 10.6% of them reported having been offered electronic cigarettes while 7.9% were offered liquids for electronic cigarettes for free,” he said.
He also added that the promotion of e-cigarettes has been widespread on social media, the internet and in vape shops, which increases the risk of teenagers trying it out and later becoming addicted to vape or nicotine.
Almost all vape flavours contain nicotine, which is a controlled substance under the Poisons Act 1952 and the Food Act 1983 which should only be sold by registered medical practitioners such as pharmacists or doctors, he said.
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“The vapours produced from ‘vaping’ activities regardless of whether from flavours containing nicotine or not can have adverse effects on health and discomfort to the public,” he said, adding that there is no strong evidence from high-quality studies to support the use of electronic cigarettes, especially for the purpose of helping smokers quit.
“Our neighbouring countries including Singapore, Thailand and Brunei have from the very beginning banned e-cigarettes for health reasons.”
Prof Madya Dr Mohamad Haniki further explained that the National Electronic Cigarette Survey (NECS) 2016 found that 600,000 or 3.2% of adults are e-cigarette smokers with a majority of them using nicotine liquids.
“The sale of such nicotine liquids violates the Poisons Act 1952 because only licensed medical practitioners are allowed to sell nicotine substances for medical indications such as helping smokers quit,” he said.
Also read: “It’s my kid, I’ll do as I wish” M’sian Mother Called Out After Giving Vape To Baby
