Recognize Vaping as a Harm Reduction Tool to Quit Smoking

Retail display costly for cigs in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, 15 November 2024—The Consumer Choice Center (CCC) Malaysia Country Associate, Tarmizi Anuwar, expressed cautious support for the government’s new regulatory framework for vape products. While welcoming the initiative to regulate these products, Tarmizi raised concerns regarding the prohibition on promoting vaping as a smoking cessation tool.

“Vape products have been shown in numerous studies to be effective for helping smokers transition away from combustible cigarettes, which pose far greater health risks. Research from multiple countries highlights that vaping is at least 95 percent less harmful than smoking and twice more effective at helping smokers quit than any nicotine lozenge, patch, or spray,” Tarmizi emphasized.

Harm Reduction Tool

According to a 2023 study titled Exhaled Carbon Monoxide Level and Practices among Tobacco and Nicotine Adult Users in Klang Valley, Malaysia by health experts from the Faculty of Medicine at the National University of Malaysia (UKM), 68.2 percent of respondents successfully transitioned from conventional cigarettes to electronic cigarettes. The findings also indicate that users of electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products exhale far fewer noxious aerosols compared to the stream of a lit cigarette, meaning they pose even less of a danger when it comes to second-hand effects on bystanders. The Malaysian study suggests that the targeted use of these products can effectively manage nicotine dependence.

Tarmizi further commented on the economic and public health benefits of allowing vape products to be recognized as a cessation tool. “Enabling smokers to switch to less harmful alternatives not only has the potential to reduce healthcare costs linked to smoking-related illnesses but also alleviates the financial burden on consumers over time,” he stated. “By incorporating vaping as part of a harm reduction strategy, we’re offering consumers an effective, less costly route to quitting smoking.”

Retail display ban

In addition to the cessation tool clause, the Consumer Choice Center urges the government to reconsider the retail display ban on vape products. The ban risks creating an unfair playing field, potentially disadvantageous to smaller businesses, hence stifling harm-reduction innovation within the industry. “Innovation in the industry should be encouraged, not discouraged, and that requires a fair and open market environment.”

In addition, Tarmizi explained that “A retail display ban may push consumers back to smoking cigarettes by making vape products less visible and accessible, undermining the goal of reducing smoking rates,” Tarmizi explained.

The Consumer Choice Center calls on the government to actively engage with stakeholders, especially consumer groups before the display ban is implemented. Ensuring that consumers’ perspectives are heard will enable more balanced regulations that protect public health without creating unnecessary market restrictions that are detrimental to smokers’ lives.