GEPRGE TOWN, Jan 6 – For over an hour discussion of State Government, vape entrepreneurs and vaping opponents on the public dialog of vape issues before decide to ban, vape traders in Penang have urged the state government to regulate vaping instead of banning it, saying proper research should be conducted first before prohibiting its sale.
At the end of the session, no final decision was made by the Penang government over whether to ban the sale and use of vape in the state, although Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said state government could only make decisions based on health and medical experts’ advice but was keeping an open mind. Meanwhile, he also added that they are ready to listen to what people have to say, but they must present the data.
Penang State executive councillor on health Dr. Afif Bahardinn said they will having a meeting on Wednesday with the health department and experts, to discuss on this issues. At the meantime, state might also be able to reach its final decision on vape in another week or two, pending more details from the ministry.
Persatuan Pengusaha Vaping Pulau Pinang (Penang Vape Entrepreneurs Association), also known as PPVPP, vice-chairman Wan Mahzan Megat Teh said vape or e-cigarettes were created to help people to quit from smoking. Therefore, it had also helped hundreds of people to switch from smoking to vaping. Before to ban the vape, he said he hope that the authorities should conduct studies before making any decision.
PPVPP assistant secretary Mark Christopher Reutens said the state should also consider banning cigarettes first before plans to ban vaping due to cigarettes was more harmful than vape. He said if there were concerns about students and teens using vape, there were also many youths smoking cigarettes.
The arguments prompted state health department public health physician Dr Azizah Abd Manan, who heads the tobacco control unit said she was happy to know that the vape entrepreneurs for their intention to help smokers quit using cigarettes. But, she said this was not the right direction to choose.
She said vaping is not safe as what the vapers think. She said there are still risks and vape can be misused by people like drug addicts and expose those who are never smokers to the habit of using vape. But she said it is not fair to just tell you to stop and close your shops.
“But we can all work together to help people stop smoking. I hope that you may join our programme recently launched ‘M-Quit Services’ to get more info and detailed programme which educated and helps people quit smoking,” she told the reporters during the Public Dialogue On Vape Issues at Komtar, here, Tuesday.
It was also attended by Deputy Chief Minister I Datuk Mohd Rashid Hasnon, state welfare exco Phee Boon Poh, state religious exco Datuk Abdul Malik Abul Kassim, several local assemblymen and representatives from the state health department, relevant local authorities and non-governmental organisations.
