Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Dr Zaliha Mustafa has stressed that her ministry takes the issue of selling electronic cigarettes or vapes through vending machines seriously.
Zaliha urged local authorities under her ministry to take strict action against unlicensed machines.
“I, as the Federal Territories minister, am aware of this matter and, God willing, we will address it moving forward, particularly how we can monitor this, especially in the Federal Territories.
“We also need to look into licensing issues, and if there is no licence, we will confiscate it under our act. It's just that no complaints have been received yet (regarding vending machines selling vapes around Kuala Lumpur),” she said after the pre-launch of Royal Floria Putrajaya 2024 in Putrajaya today.
Zaliha was commenting on reports of prevalent self-service vape sales through vending machines, especially among teenagers.
Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF) senior vice chairperson Ayub Yaakob voiced concerns that this action would make it easier for these groups to access smoking devices without supervision.
Last year, for about eight months minors could buy vape products containing nicotine after nicotine was removed from the Poisons Act when Zaliha was the health minister.
However, the government reintroduced a ban on all smoking products to children under the age of 18 last November.
Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said on Friday that specific regulations and rules on vape vending machines would be introduced soon.
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