PETALING JAYA: The Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) has urged the government to reinstate nicotine into the Poisons List under the Poisons Act 1952 following the High Court’s decision to strike down the government’s 2023 move to delist liquid and gel nicotine.
Senior education officer and anti-smoking activist at CAP, NV Subbarow described the ruling as a “victory for public health.”
“The CAP called on the Health Ministry to immediately restore provisions that had been removed from the Generational End Game (GEG) policy and place nicotine back under the Poisons Act,” he said in a statement on Friday (May 15).
Subbarow said the association welcomed the court’s decision, which found that the delisting exercise was irrational and carried out without proper consultation with the Poisons Board.
“This is a victory for public health and for Malaysia’s children,” he added.
Subbarow said the move to remove nicotine from the Poisons List had undermined efforts to protect young people from nicotine addiction and vaping-related harm.
“CAP wants to know the stand by the Health Ministry.
“The delisting of nicotine was very shameless. It was against the health interests of young children and youths,” he said.
Subbarow also questioned the current stand of the Health Ministry following the court ruling and urged Putrajaya not to delay further action.
“The ministry should not wait anymore. We call on the government to restore what has been taken out of the GEG in the bill and reinstate nicotine in the Poisons Act,” he said.
The activist added that the then health minister should apologise for proceeding with the delisting despite objections and advice from the Poisons Board.
“The minister went against the Poisons Board’s advice. The court’s finding that the decision was irrational and made without proper consultation is very regrettable,” he said.
Earlier on Friday, the Kuala Lumpur High Court has ruled that the government's decision to de-list liquid nicotine from the Poisons Act was "irrational.”
Justice Aliza Sulaiman said this in her decision allowing a judicial review filed by three non-governmental organisations (NGO) against the Health Ministry and the government for de-listing nicotine liquids and gels used in e-cigarettes from the poisons list.
