PETALING JAYA: Vape is a growing gateway to substance intake but it has yet to be banned in Malaysia, where 73% of drug abuse cases involve synthetic drug-laced vapes.
Asean countries have banned vape except Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia.
However, Indonesia is now considering a ban on e-cigarettes following the growing threat of drug-laced vapes.
Anti-smoking advocate NV Subbarow says it is time Malaysia considers a full ban due to the growing issue of drug-laced vapes.
ALSO READ : Addiction, mental illness intertwined
The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) education officer, who works closely with schools, expressed worry over school-going children getting hooked on the habit.
Sharing accounts of incidents, Subbarow said some minors have acted inappropriately under the influence, including misbehaving with family members.
“Some teens told me that they were unaware of what they were doing or saying due to the drug-laced vapes.
“CAP is calling for a total ban immediately,” he said, adding that Malaysia cannot afford to take a wait-and-see approach.
“The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has issued a stark warning that the use of these vapes laced with substances such as ketamine and etomidate constitutes a looming crisis in the region.”
Malaysian Mental Health Association president Prof Datuk Dr Andrew Mohanraj said the ban on vapes should be seriously considered because they can be used as a device for synthetic drugs.
“The use of vapes as opposed to traditional methods of using substances can be far more dangerous as users are unable to calibrate the intake of synthetic substances,” he said.
The National Anti-Drug Agency director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh said last month that synthetic drugs currently account for 73% of drug abuse cases in the country, posing an increased risk of “dual diagnosis” among addicts.
He said the growing use of synthetic drugs, particularly through vape devices among young people, has led to a sharp increase in the number of addicts suffering from mental health issues.
