Tag: Malaysia

  • Missions unspeakable

    Missions unspeakable

    The British high commission in Malaysia gave tens of thousands of pounds to a local thinktank while it argued against tobacco controls already enacted in the UK, according to a story by Jessica Glenza for The Guardian.

    At the same time it was being funded by the British foreign office, the thinktank received substantial funding from three multinational tobacco companies.

    Glenza said that the conduct of the high commission raised questions about whether diplomats went against guidelines to ‘limit interactions’ with the tobacco industry, following previous criticism of diplomatic support for the tobacco industry abroad.

    Both British and American diplomatic missions were said to have funded the thinktank, the Kuala Lumpur-based Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs, while it argued against tobacco taxes and standardized packaging. The UK enacted standardized packaging legislation in 2014.

    The latest story follows a Guardian analysis of free-market thinktanks around the world that have taken positions aligned with the tobacco industry. (see Thinking inside the tank, this site, January 24)

  • Legal since it’s not illegal

    Legal since it’s not illegal

    Malaysia’s Health Minister seems to have confirmed by default that the use of electronic cigarettes not containing nicotine is permitted in public places where tobacco smoking is banned.

    According to a story in The Star, the minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Dzulkefly Ahmad, had said that e-cigarettes that contained nicotine or tobacco [presumably heat-not-burn devices] could not be used in no-smoking zones.

    But the Star was looking for an answer to the question of whether vaping devices without nicotine could be used in no-smoking zones.

    The answer it received was, by default, yes. “If there is no nicotine in vapes, then the issue is whether it is tobacco based,” said Dzulkefly. “If it is tobacco based, then it is still not allowed. It is as simple as that.”

    In October last year, deputy health minister Dr. Lee Boon Chye said the ban against tobacco smoking in public places and eateries would not be extended to vaping.

    He said that under the current laws, the authorities could act on vape products only if they contained nicotine.

    In the meantime, Dzulkefly said he was open to a suggestion by the chairman of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, that the smoking ban should be extended to offices and enclosed areas such as toilets.

    “We are willing to consider and always reassess and review, especially public places,” Dzulkefly said. “I will listen to the public on all suggestions and complaints.”

    From the beginning of this year, tobacco smoking has been banned in all eateries.

  • Smoking ban challenged

    Smoking ban challenged

    A lawsuit being brought by a smokers’-rights group in Malaysia against a nationwide ban on tobacco smoking in public places has left some people, including some tobacco consumers, asking whether smoking is a protected right, according to a story by Yiswaree Palansamy for the Malay Mail.

    Ahead of the court case, several lawyers reportedly told the Mail that the Federal Constitution did not protect the right to smoke in public, and that a ban could not be deemed unconstitutional because it was in the interests of public health.

    “This is a very bizarre lawsuit,” lawyers for Liberty executive director Latheefa Koya were said to have told the Mail.

    “There is no such guarantee, whether express or implied, of the right to smoke in public places in the Federal Constitution.

    “There is also no right under the Constitution that allows individuals to pollute the air with cigarette smoke. It is impossible to understand how the ban can be unconstitutional.”

    Latheefa added that the prospect of the group’s winning its case was low.

    “Their argument that smokers will be isolated is absurd – because they can still visit and eat at all public eating places so long as they don’t smoke,” she said.

    “Furthermore, it is the duty of the government to ensure that members of the public are protected from the harmful pollutants in cigarette smoke.

    “The pernicious effects of second-hand smoke are scientifically well documented.”

    Meanwhile, the civil liberties lawyer Syahredzan Johan said the group could argue that the ban was a breach of fundamental rights, but he was unconvinced by this argument.

    “It is a weak argument because in the first place, there is no fundamental right to smoke,” he said.

    Despite that, the political secretary to DAP [Democratic Action Party] MP Lim Kit Siang said the group was left with one recourse on which to base its legal challenge – irrationality.

    “It goes back to whether it is reasonable or not,” said Syahredzan. “That’s the only leg that they can stand on: where there is a concept of irrationality.

    “When you’re seeking a judicial review, that is the usual ground that you rely on – things like procedural impropriety.”

  • Nicotine ban

    Nicotine ban

    Malaysia’s Health Minister Dr. Dzulkefly Ahmad has issued a reminder that the smoking ban at the country’s eateries also covers the use of nicotine-containing vaping devices and shishas, according to a story in The Malaysian Insight.

    Any product containing nicotine is classified as a tobacco product.

    “It is not only cigarettes that are considered tobacco products, but anything that contains nicotine,” the Minister told a press conference in Putrajaya yesterday.

    The smoking and vaping ban at eateries came into effect on January 1.

    The Health Ministry intends to use the first six months of the ban to ‘educate’ smokers and vapers about the new regulations.

    After that, individuals who are found to have broken the rules will be liable to fine of RM10,000, while the proprietors of eateries where smoking or vaping is found to have taken place will be liable to a fine of RM2,500.

  • Listening out for smoking

    Listening out for smoking

    Malaysia’s Health Ministry has urged members of the public to act as its ‘eyes and ears’ when its tobacco-smoking ban at all restaurants and eateries is enforced nationwide from January 1.
    Deputy Health Minister Dr. Lee Boon Chye said the public could lodge their complaints directly to the ministry via its telephone hotline.
    “During this enforcement period, it’s important that this is not done just by the ministry but also with the co-operation of the public,” Lee was quoted as saying.
    “The government is widening the scope of non-smoking zones not just to bring down the numbers of smokers but to also protect the rights of those who do not smoke so that they will not be exposed to second-hand smoke …,” he said.
    Lee said the Ministry’s enforcement drive during the first six months would focus on educating the public and restaurant owners to make them aware of the ban.
    However, he added, this did not mean that smokers should regard the ban lightly.
    “After six months, there will be patrols to check on the smoking ban and the public can call the ministry hotline if they see people breaking the law,” he said.
    Asked if the 5,000-strong enforcement team was enough to enforce the ban, Lee said the ministry would strategize the deployment of its officers nationwide.
    He said stern enforcement would be enforced after six months via regular patrols and with the help of the public.
    Although the law is described as banning smoking, restaurant operators can designate smoking zones within their premises, though they must be built three meters away from dining area.

  • Vaping is not smoking

    Vaping is not smoking

    Packaging for tobacco sticks used with the heat-not-burn (HNB) device IQOS does not have to include graphic health warnings in Malaysia because such sticks do not come under the legal classification of a cigarette, according to a story in The Sun Daily quoting the Ministry of Health (MoH).
    The MoH said the exemption from the ruling on pictorial warnings stemmed from the fact that the Heets tobacco sticks, while comprising a tobacco product, emitted vapor instead of smoke.
    Questioned by the Sun Daily, the MoH said it had not approved any studies on the health consequences of using HNB devices, but that the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) had agreed to investigate these health effects.
    Meanwhile, because the tobacco sticks are not classified as cigarettes, they can be sold at a lower price, RM14, than that of combustible cigarettes, RM17.40.
    The Sun Daily said that HNBs had been allowed to be marketed in Malaysia without prior research to verify claims by tobacco companies that they were a safer alternative to cigarettes.
    It said that questions about the grounds on which HNBs were allowed to be marketed in Malaysia were not answered by the MoH.

  • Taxes reflect risk

    Taxes reflect risk

    Malaysia’s Customs Department is considering the tax status of heat-not-burn products, according to a story in The Sun Daily.
    “We are still studying this as the product is new,” the Department’s director-general Datuk Seri Subromaniam Tholasy was quoted as saying.
    The director-general was responding to a query from the Sun Daily as to whether IQOS should be subject to tax in line with the Government’s aim of reducing tobacco consumption.
    “There is already excise duty on the tobacco. As for the device, it is an issue of classification.”
    “That device is an electronic gadget,” he said. “Classification of a product is something international and we will need to consult the World Customs Organization and other countries.
    “However, we are open to the idea and will further study this.”
    The Sun said that IQOS retailed mainly in vape stores and upmarket tobacco dealers, at between RM260 and RM600, depending on what accessories were included.
    The IQOs device’s Heets tobacco sticks, which were also available at gas filling stations and convenience stores, retailed for RM14.00 for a pack of 20. A pack of premium combustible cigarettes sold at RM17.40.
    The excise duty on each stick of Heets, about 24 sen, was about 40 percent lower than that on a regular cigarette, 40 sen.

  • A sign of the times

    A sign of the times

    The Health Department of Malaysia’s Negeri Sembilan state has denied selling ‘Dilarang Merokok’ (No Smoking) signboards at food eateries and restaurants in the state, according to a Malaysian National News Agency story.
    In addition, the department has denied appointing third parties, including health officers, to sell the signboards to eateries and restaurants in Negeri Sembilan.
    The chairman of the state Action Committee on Health, Environment, Co-operatives and Consumer Affairs, S. Veerapan, said members of the public and food operators should be wary of anybody claiming to be health officers and wanting to sell any product or collect donations.

  • Vaping's double benefit

    Vaping's double benefit

    Vaping is being promoted in Malaysia as an aid to weight loss, according to a story in The Star.
    The principal investigator of the National E-cigarette Survey (NECS) 2016, associate professor Dr. Mohamad Haniki Nik Mohamed, was quoted as saying that vaping was being touted as an appetite suppressant.
    Vaping devices were being promoted as inhalation weight management aids and were clearly targeted at women and young girls, he said.
    The Star said that a Google search had shown that online stores were promoting electronic cigarettes with fruit, green tea, and plant extracts, purportedly containing vitamin and weight control properties.
    Meanwhile, a member of the Universiti Malaya’s Nicotine Addiction Research & Collaboration Group (NARCC), Dr. Nur Amani Natasha Ahmad Tajuddin, said the amount of these “supposedly beneficial” extracts were too little to be of use.
    “What’s the percentage of green tea extract in the liquid?
    “How much green tea does your body need for it to have an impact?
    “These liquids [presumably e-liquids] contain more harmful chemicals than anything,” she said, adding that vaping nicotine killed taste buds and suppressed appetite but that there was no proof that it was safe.
    Meanwhile, the University of Cambridge behavior and health research unit director Professor Dame Theresa Marteau said some flavors and marketing strategies were aimed at those with weight issues.
    “If someone’s smoking because of weight concerns, and they want to stop, they’d be better off vaping,” she said.
    “If vaping is attracting them because it’s highlighting the fact that you can smoke chocolate rather than eat chocolate, that may not be a bad thing although I wouldn’t recommend it.”
    According to an article in the Nicotine & Tobacco Research Journal last year, vapers were claiming that vaping helped them to control weight gain after they stopped smoking.

  • Vaping not banned entirely

    Vaping not banned entirely

    Malaysia’s deputy health minister Dr. Lee Boon Chye says the country’s new ban on tobacco smoking in public places does not cover vaping, according to a story by John Bunyan at malaymail.com.
    Lee said that under current laws, the authorities could act only in respect of vaping products that contained nicotine; the unauthorized sale of which was illegal under the Drug Act.
    Only vaping products that contained nicotine were illegal. There was no law banning vaping products that did not contain nicotine.
    But Lee said the Government was looking to draw up a new law to control vaping – presumably vaping without nicotine.
    On Friday, Lee announced that the government would ban smoking at all eateries, including open-air outlets, throughout the country from next year.
    “Eateries that allow customers to smoke despite the ban will be fined up to RM2,500, while those who smoke at prohibited places will face a maximum fine of RM10,000 or two years’ jail,” he said.
    He also reiterated a suggestion that Parliament’s smoking room should be closed by next month in a bid to turn the entire law-making house into a smoke-free zone.
    “We should not be giving exemptions to parliamentarians as we have already legislated that all government premises should be smoke-free,” Lee said.
    “We advise the parliamentarians who smoke to quit smoking if possible or if they find it hard, then they should try another option such as nicotine gum.”