Kelantan eyes law to prevent teens from vaping

The Kelantan government plans to enact a law prohibiting the use of electronic cigarettes or vape among those aged 17 and below in the state.

State Local Government, Housing and Health Committee chairman Dr Izani Husin said the proposed ban would specifically apply to those born on and after Jan 1, 2005.

However, he said the matter was still at the proposal stage and the state government would be tabling it through a working paper at the coming Parliament sitting.

“Yesterday, the health ministry tabled a working paper on the effects of smoking cigarettes and vaping.

“There are those among the public who think that electronic cigarettes are not dangerous to health and that the side effects are milder than smoking normal cigarettes but the fact is, the nicotine content of vape is more dangerous,” he told reporters after attending a state executive council meeting in Kota Bharu today.

Izani said the state government was concerned about the increasingly rampant use of vape, especially among women and primary schoolchildren.

“We’ve found out that some of the vape users are as young as 10 years old, while its use among women is increasing. Therefore, I urge parents to monitor their children to prevent them from using vape.

“In Kelantan, we (the state government) do not issue licences for the electronic cigarette business but we do not have the power to prevent people from vaping as those selling vape on the market do so without a licence or online,” he added.