Did you know that there are 1.12 million e-cigarette users in Malaysia? The use of e-cigarettes is being increasingly recognised and accepted worldwide.
The Malaysian Perception of Smoking and Vaping survey revealed that a majority (69 per cent) of smokers want legislation that will allow the distribution and sale of e-cigarettes as a viable alternative to help them quit smoking regular cigarettes.
E-cigarette adoption is already present in many other countries, like the United Kingdom and New Zealand, which have regulated the use of the product with vape-specific legislation.
These countries also impose different regulations on e-cigarettes compared with conventional cigarettes, based on widelyx acknowledged evidence of e-cigarettes' comparatively lower risk profile.
According to studies, the use of e-cigarettes has been highly effective as a smoking cessation tool.
A landmark study published by the Cochrane Review in October last year found that e-cigarettes with nicotine are a far more effective tool for smokers looking to quit smoking, compared with other products such as nicotine patches or gum.
A study by University College London, found that e-cigarettes helped over 50,000 smokers in England stop smoking cigarettes each year.
Another study from the National Institute for Health Research in England, that involved nearly 900 participants, found that in local Stop Smoking Services, a standard e-cigarette was twice as effective at helping smokers to quit compared with the quitters' choice of combination nicotine replacement therapy.
Prior to switching to e-cigarettes, I was a regular smoker and experienced the health scares brought on by the lifestyle.
The alternatives at that time were limited and mostly relegated to nicotine replacement therapy, which was not a practice that I, like many others, could follow through.
But we are facing a misuse of vaping among the nation's youth.
These actions do no justice to those who see this as a tool to aid in smoking cessation.
Players in the vape industry are still waiting on the Malaysian government to produce a legal framework.
The absence of vape regulations makes it easy for people to purchase vapes, which unfortunately includes those who are underage.
What will banning vape devices do to counteract underage vaping and the misuse of the product?
If anything, it will regress any progress that has been made on the road to proper regulation of the vaping industry.
Thailand, which has a nationwide vape ban, has an illegal e-cigarette market year-on-year growth rate of 100 per cent over the past three years.
In New York, vape bans have introduced a lucrative black market offering as well.
In conclusion, a nationwide vape ban will only strengthen the black market for these products.
Without proper guidelines on manufacturing standards and accurate information on vaping as a cessation tool, the market remains unregulated and at the peril of people looking to make quick money without any care for proper standards in producing vape devices and liquids.
This will leave users at risk of preventable accidents.
New Zealand, Canada, and the UK have taken the lead in this aspect, having embraced the robust science behind e-cigarettes and their potential to displace smoking rates permanently.
They have acknowledged the role of nicotine vapes in helping cigarette smokers quit smoking entirely.
E-cigarette regulations in these countries have shown that it is possible for authorities to strike a balance between allowing its smoking demographic to transition to less harmful alternatives while ensuring these e-cigarettes are kept out of the hands of the underage.
More recently, the Philippines introduced House Bill 9007, the proposed Non-Combustible Nicotine Delivery Systems Regulation Act.
This shows that with proper regulation, it is possible to strike a balance between offering vape products for smoking cessation and keeping them out of the hands of underage users.
The hope is that Malaysia can also take the leadership in its own tobacco harm reduction journey with the regulation of vapes.
The writer is president of Vape Consumers Associations of Malaysia