PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Pharmacists Society (MPS) has welcomed the High Court’s decision to overturn the government’s 2023 exemption of liquid and gel nicotine used in vape and e-cigarette products from the Poisons List.
Its president, Amrahi Buang, said the ruling was a major victory for public health and sends a clear signal that public health safeguards should not be sacrificed for administrative convenience or fiscal objectives.
He said pharmacists and healthcare professionals had consistently raised concerns over the past two years that removing nicotine liquids from poison control would create a dangerous regulatory gap.
“As pharmacists, our concern was not abstract. We understood that easier access to nicotine products would eventually be seen in community settings, among young people, and in the daily work of healthcare professionals supporting smoking and vape cessation,” he said in a statement on Saturday (May 16).
Amrahi said community pharmacists had been among frontline healthcare workers dealing directly with the growing consequences of nicotine and vape use, particularly among younger Malaysians.
This includes smoking cessation support, counselling, nicotine dependence management, and engagement with concerned parents and patients, he added.
He said the society also stood with the Malaysian Council for Tobacco Control, the Malaysian Green Lung Association and Voice of the Children, which were involved in the judicial review.
Amrahi also expressed MPS’ appreciation to pharmacists, healthcare professionals, public health advocates, parents, educators and NGOs who had continued speaking up on the issue.
“This was never the work of one organisation alone. It has been a long, difficult and often frustrating fight by many Malaysians who believed that nicotine addiction, especially among young people, should not be normalised,” he said.
Amrahi stressed that nicotine remains a pharmacologically active, dependence-forming substance requiring proper regulatory oversight and should not be treated as just another taxable consumer product.
He also stressed the importance of the Poisons Board, saying decisions involving scheduled poisons require scientific and professional scrutiny.
“The Poisons Board is not a decorative committee. The Court’s findings are also an important reminder that process matters. Expert advice matters. The role of the Poisons Board matters,” he said.
With the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 now in force, Amrahi called for stronger enforcement against youth-targeted vape sales and marketing, wider access to smoking and vape cessation services, and greater involvement of healthcare professionals in future nicotine-control policies.
He also urged the government not to appeal the decision and instead place nicotine liquids and gels used in vape and e-cigarette products back under appropriate poison control.
“Malaysia must choose prevention over addiction, evidence over expediency, and public health over revenue,” he said.
Last Friday (May 15), the High Court ruled that the government’s 2023 decision to exempt liquid and gel nicotine used in vape and e-cigarette products from the Poisons List was irrational and unlawful, following a judicial review filed by three health-related NGOs.
The exemption had previously drawn criticism from healthcare groups and anti-smoking advocates, who argued that removing nicotine from poison control weakened regulatory safeguards and increased the risk of vape products becoming more accessible to youths.
