Demanding Choice

Nearly 70 percent of Malaysian smokers want the government to permit the distribution and sale of nicotine e-cigarettes to give them a viable alternative to smoking tobacco, reports The Straits Times, citing a recent poll conducted by Green Zebras.

The poll also found that 58 percent of Malaysians surveyed believe that nicotine e-cigarettes should be taxed but at a level lower than regular cigarettes.

More than half of parents (55 percent), teachers (51 percent) and healthcare professionals (52 percent) polled agreed that the government should emulate health ministries of countries like the United Kingdom and New Zealand that regulate the sale of nicotine e-cigarettes as a means to help smokers quit.

Nicotine-containing vape products are currently illegal for sale in Malaysia. The government is in the process of drafting a new Tobacco Control and Smoking Act.