KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 27 ― The vape culture in Malaysia has seen tremendous growth since its introduction here about nine years ago. It has been reported that the value of the vaping market here is estimated at RM2 billion.

An estimated one million people smoke e-cigarettes or vapes in Malaysia and most rely on their neighbourhood vape shop for their “juice” or vape liquids. There are a myriad of choices of brands and flavours as Malaysia is one of the leading producers of vape liquids worldwide.

Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz, in his maiden Budget speech on November 6, proposed imposing excise duty on electronic, non-electronic cigarette devices and vape liquids beginning January 2021.

He said the government will impose excise duty at a rate of 10 per cent on all types of electronic and non-electronic cigarette devices, as well as 40 sen per ml (millimetre) when it comes to the sale of vape liquids. 

Malay Mail spoke to several e-cigarette and vape shop operators to find out what they think about this new vape tax. The consensus seems to be that the timing is wrong as everybody is still reeling from the devastating economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

They suggested that the government postpone the imposition of the tax to a later date.

Mohd Hiekal bin Rosli, owner of Molek Vape Store on Jalan Ipoh, said that while he welcomes the tax as it will help regulate the industry, the government skipped a few steps when tabling this ruling.

“An Act should be put in place first and they should streamline the issuing of licences for vapes and all its related products. Right now, the health ministry doesn’t even issue licenses.

“How can you impose tax for something that people cannot get a licence to sell in the first place?” he questioned.

All nicotine products fall under the purview of the Poisons Act 1952, and no licence has been issued by the health ministry for vaping products in the country.

Hiekal added that while the 10 per cent excise duty on e-cigarettes and vaping devices is fair, the 40 sen per ml on vape liquids is a bit much, sharing that the price hike after the tax for liquids would be a deterrent.

“Forty sen per ml is actually quite high. Most vape juices I sell come either in 10ml, 30ml or 60ml boxes; imagine one 60ml bottle costs an average RM40, and at 40 sen per ml, that brings the total price to an additional RM24 on top of the price of the juice itself.

“We are afraid that the tax may chase away what remains of my customers ― some who face rough conditions because of the economy right now during Covid-19. Push it back until the coast is clear, then implement it by all means,” he said.

Although Hiekal thinks the 40 sen per ml tax on vape liquids is quite high, checks on a similar tax on vape liquids in other countries shows this is actually quite low.

At the corner of Jalan Raja Abdullah and Jalan Raja Muda Musa in Kampung Baru is Puppetborn Vape Store. Run by 25-year-old Lokman Hakim bin Mohd Yusof, this little vape store supplies Kampung Baru and its close neighbours with their e-cigarette and vaping needs.

Lokman shared that vaping is a lifestyle, just like smoking. And like cigarettes, no matter how high the tax, there will always be a demand.

“A lot of my customers switched over to vapes because one, it’s healthier than smoking cigarettes, and two, it’s cheaper! What’s going to stop those who switched from cigarettes to vapes to switch back, because it’s going to be almost the same price!,” he exclaimed as two of his customers nearby chuckled on hearing the dismay in his voice.

He added that while he agrees the implementation of a tax is a good thing for the country’s economy, the government should consider waiting until after the Covid-19 pandemic is over to impose the tax.

“Right now, I still have demand for vapes and its products but I know if they implement it before Covid-19 is over, we’re going to have a hard time surviving. Those big chains will nonetheless survive, but us small shops who serve a small neighbourhood… we won’t,” he added.

Amir Abdulah, store manager of NCiG’s flagship store in Desa Sri Hartamas, said that the company’s vision of helping people quit cigarettes may be impaired as the taxes may drive away customers.

“Here at NCiG, our motto is to improve the quality of life for smokers and their families by putting an end to cigarette addiction forever, by encouraging the use of e-cigarettes which have less toxins and chemicals compared to cigarettes, and are less harmful overall.

“The implementation of the tax may chase away some of our clients who have been trying to live a healthier life,”he shared.

Amir fears the implementation of the tax will just push people back to smoking cigarettes, as the pricing will be almost equivalent.

A 2020 report by an American advocacy group, the Consumer Choice Center, recently debunked the common belief that “vaping is the gateway to smoking for adults and adolescents” but instead is designed to offer smokers a safer way to consume nicotine and divert them from traditional and harmful tobacco consumption.

Amir added that he fears that it is too soon for such a tax as most operators are barely hanging on due to the devastating effects of the pandemic, and that the market needs more time to recover first.

“We need time to recover, we were closed for a month before this because of Covid-19, and have yet to recover from that lost time,” he said.

Originally published here.

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 23 — A 2020 report by an American advocacy group, the Consumer Choice Center, debunks the common belief that “vaping is the gateway to smoking for adults and adolescents.”

Titled “Vaping and the Gateway Myth”, the report highlighted findings that vaping is 95 per cent less harmful than smoking.

It also presents a viewpoint that vaping actually helps conventional smokers “divert from traditional and harmful tobacco consumption.”

The report also emphasises that vaping products were designed to offer smokers a safer way to consume nicotine, with the target being adult smokers.

The British National Health Service has already said nicotine, on its own, is relatively harmless and adds that “almost all of the harm from smoking comes from the thousands of other chemicals in tobacco smoke, many of which are toxic.”

The Consumer Choice Center report also cites a study conducted by University College London in 2019 which analysed data from over 50,000 smokers from 2006 to 2017.

It was found that vaping products were positively associated with the quit success rate; every one per cent rise in the use of vaping products associated with a 0.06 per cent increase in the quit success rate.

In a speech at the European Parliament in February this year, Joachim Schüz, head of Environment and Radiation at WHO’s cancer research agency said vaping is “no way as harmful” as smoking cigarettes and could even help heavy smokers quit.

What’s more, the Malaysian tobacco industry sees the new “vaping tax” to be introduced in 2021 on all electronic cigarette devices including vape and vaping liquids as a positive one as this means vaping products will be regulated.

In Malaysia, the number of smokers has dropped by 1.5 percentage points in 2019 according to the Ministry of Health’s National Health and Morbidity Survey 2019.

While it is unclear if this can be attributed to a switch to vaping, the same report shows five per cent of Malaysians use vaping products.

The effectiveness of vaping as a smoking cessation tool seems to be encouraging and efforts to frame vaping as a gateway to smoking do not seem to stand up to close scrutiny.

Originally published here.

“SAYA seorang perokok lebih daripada 20 tahun. Saya cuba pelbagai cara untuk berhenti merokok tetapi tidak berjaya sehingga saya cuba menghisap vape. Dalam tempoh tiga minggu, ini saya berjaya berhenti merokok,” kata Fairuz yang merupakan pengguna vape atau rokok elektronik.

Daripada pengalamannya itu, Fairuz yakin bahawa dengan menghisap vape boleh membantu perokok mengatasi sindrom ketagihan nikotin dalam tubuh mereka.

Katanya, sebotol cecair perisa (flavour) iaitu bahan utama yang digunakan dalam dalam rokok elektronik itu boleh bertahan selama tiga minggu dengan harga RM24, berbanding rokok berjenama terkenal berharga RM17 yang hanya mampu bertahan selama dua hari.

Menteri Kewangan, Senator Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz pada Belanjawan 2021 mengumumkan duti eksais akan dikenakan terhadap semua jenis peranti rokok elektronik dan bukan eletronik termasuk vape sebanyak 10 peratus mulai 1 Januari 2021.

Cecair perisa juga akan dikenakan duti eksais sebanyak 40 sen per milimeter. Bagi banyak pihak, pengumuman itu adalah satu langkah positif bagi industri tembakau tempatan kerana pengenalan cukai itu bermakna produk vape akan dikawal selia. Di Malaysia, jumlah perokok sedia ada telah merosot sedikit iaitu sebanyak 1.5 peratus kepada 21.3 peratus pada tahun 2019, menurut Tinjauan Kebangsaan Kesihatan dan Morbiditi (NHMS) 2019 anjuran Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia (KKM).

Tidak jelas sama ada pengurangan bilangan perokok tembakau disebabkan oleh pertukaran kepada vape, memandangkan laporan sama menunjukkan sebanyak lima peratus rakyat Malaysia menggunakan produk vape termasuk Fairuz.

Bagaimanapun, kajian mendapati ada hubung kait positif antara pengurangan bilangan perokok tembakau dan penggunaan vape sejak ia diperkenalkan.

Dalam laporan bertajuk Vaping and the Gateway Myth oleh Consumer Choice Center, satu kajian telah dilaksanakan untuk menentukan sama ada penggunaan vape membantu perokok bertukar daripada produk tembakau.

Laporan tersebut mendapati penggunaan vape terbukti 95 peratus kurang berbahaya daripada merokok, malah produk vape diiktiraf oleh pelbagai badan kesihatan antarabangsa sebagai alternatif yang lebih selamat.

Laporan yang sama menambah bahawa produk vape telah direka untuk menawarkan cara yang lebih selamat kepada perokok untuk menggunakan nikotin, dengan perokok dewasa sebagai pasaran sasaran.

Menurut Perkhidmatan Kesihatan British, nikotin secara tersendiri tidak berbahaya. Menurutnya lagi, “Hampir semua kemudaratan merokok berpunca daripada beribu-ribu bahan kimia lain dalam asap tembakau, yang kebanyakannya toksik.”

Laporan tersebut juga menyebut satu kajian kendalian University College London pada tahun 2019 yang menganalisis data lebih daripada 50,000 perokok dari tahun 2006 hingga 2017.

Positif

Kajian mendapati bahawa penggunaan produk vape untuk berhenti merokok dikaitkan secara positif dengan kadar kejayaan berhenti merokok, dengan peningkatan 1 peratus penggunaan produk vape menghasilkan peningkatan 0.06 peratus dalam kejayaan berhenti merokok.

Penggunaan vape juga diiktiraf oleh Joachim Schüz, Ketua Alam Sekitar dan Radiasi di agensi penyelidikan kanser WHO, International Agency for Research on Cancer dalam ucapannya di Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, Parlimen Eropah pada Februari 2020.

Dalam laporannya, Joachim Schüz berkata, vape ‘sama sekali tidak’ sebahaya rokok tembakau dan boleh membantu perokok tegar berhenti merokok.

Keberkesanan vape sebagai alat berhenti merokok tidak boleh dinafikan kerana yang disasarkan adalah perokok dan bukan golongan yang tidak merokok.

Sebarang dakwaan yang menggambarkan penggunaan vape sebagai pembuka laluan kepada merokok adalah tidak berasas.

Cuma yang menjadi kebimbangan pengguna vape seperti Fairuz ialah kos yang semakin meningkat mulai tahun hadapan.

Originally published here.

The Consumer Choice Center has released a new report that considers existing age restrictions on the sale of vaping products and then suggests several policies to reverse low enforcement rates of current rules.

To reduce the rate of vaping by youth, the Consumer Choice Center report recommends four actions:

• Enforce strict age restrictions on vaping devices and liquids at the point of sale.
• Use modern age-verification technology for online sales.
• Learn from other industries such as alcohol and fireworks on how to improve compliance rates.
• Retail and industry should be encouraged to be more proactive with the enforcement of rules.
• Don’t punish legal adult vapers for the lack of enforcement of age restrictions.

Fred Roeder, health economist and author of the report, stated in an email that most countries have already drawn a line of when it is legal to vape (enacted age-to-purchase laws).

“We don’t face a lack of legislation but a lack of compliance with existing rules and regulations. We looked at similarly regulated industries such as alcohol and gambling and found that these tend to have smarter enforcement mechanisms,” he wrote “There are many innovative tools out there to ensure only adult customers can buy vaping products. Digital ID checks and industry initiatives to ID customers that look young are better ways to solve the problem than additional laws such as flavor bans.”

Originally published here.