JAKARTA: The Health Ministry is considering banning vape distribution, as the Indonesian Ulama Council (MUI) recently issued a fatwa forbidding Muslims from using and selling vape products.
The ministry said on Wednesday (Nov 11) that it welcomed the Nov. 6 fatwa as a "reinforcement of efforts to protect the public” and that the ministry is seeking to strengthen controls on vapes.
“The ministry will continue to review and strengthen electronic cigarette control policies based on public health protection principles, including through plans to impose a total ban on the distribution of vapes,” Health Ministry spokesperson Aji Muhawarman said.
Aji however stopped short of revealing the details of the potential total ban on vape distribution or when it might take effect. The potential shift lands in a regulatory environment where the state already possesses the legal tools to restrict vaping but has failed to apply them with the same rigour as conventional tobacco.
Government Regulation No. 28 of 2024 bans vape sales to anyone under 21 and mandates pictorial health warnings. In practice, enforcement at the retail level is weak and inconsistent.
A qualitative 2025 study by Johns Hopkins University researchers found that underage sales of vape products at independent tobacco retailers in Jakarta were deeply normalised, with some store managers admitting that ID verification was routinely ignored.
“Age restrictions will be difficult to provide optimal protection if the age verification process in purchases, especially online, is not implemented effectively," said public health researcher Diah Wijayanti Sutha, whose research at Gadjah Mada University has focused on adolescent tobacco use and smoking behaviour.
The result is rising youth use. According to the Health Ministry's 2023 Indonesia Health Profile, vape use among those aged 15 to 19 rose from 1.2 per cent in 2016 to 15.5 per cent in 2023.
Sutha also warned that with the lack of pictorial health warnings, adolescents would underestimate the health risks linked to vapes. "Nicotine exposure during this period can affect the development of brain functions, including aspects of attention, learning processes and impulse control," she said, noting that vape aerosol contains fine particles, volatile organic compounds and certain metals.
The Indonesian E-Liquid Producers Association (PPEI), which represents vape liquid manufacturers, said in September that the vape industry needed clearer guidelines regarding the implementation of health warnings on vape products.
PPEI did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the possible vape ban. But it said in a press release last month that it advocated proportional regulation over a total ban, citing the burden on small businesses.
Aji of the Health Ministry said it has sent recommendations for taking down at least 800 online ads on tobacco and vape products to the Communications and Digital Ministry this year, roughly 70 per cent of which were eventually blocked.
Aji described the process as complaint-based, unlike the direct blocking applied to pornography and online gambling, and named the rapid emergence of new advertising accounts as its chief obstacle. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
