By Johan Aziz

Ban vape and study its health risks – Keningau folks

KENINGAU: The people in Keningau have called on the government to ban e-cigarette or vape and conduct a study on its health risks.

They acknowledged that vaping is not the same as cigarettes and argued that vaping is the best way to stop smoking, and asked the government to act against traders who sold nicotine liquid to vapers.

The political secretary to the Infrastructure Development Ministry, Welfredoline Jakil, said vaping can disturb public order because of the excessive emission of smoke. He noted that children have started to vape and if not banned they would eventually begin to smoke cigarettes.

Welfredoline said that as vape can affect the people's health, the government should ban it.

District chief OKK Mohd Amir Datuk Arif said it should be banned because of the alarming number of vape users among youngsters.

“We have not been that successful in discouraging smokers even though cigarettes taxes have gone up in addition to all the health warnings to go with it,” he said, adding that the combined numbers indicate that the government should do something about it.

“I also noticed that new young female users of vape are on the rise,” he added.

Pensiangan parliamentary liaison officer, Rayner Francis Udong, will support the ban on vape after an in-depth research has been conducted by the government, especially the Ministry of Health.

According to him, it is still new and trendy to many people. It would be better to prevent it from starting earlier than to treat it. This new trend is only profitable to the manufacturers and the vendors.

“We fear this trend may be manipulated by certain parties to use certain substances with the nicotine. This may be a new strategy to damage our young generation,” he said.

Keningau Health Department staff Haji Azlan Luminggi is also supportive of a ban on vape because of the nicotine use. He said the health ministry has the power to include it in the Food Act as it is harmful to health.

“The Prime Minister's son and the Minister of Youth and Sports, who are vape users, are opposed to a ban on vaping,” he said.

According to him, vaping can be harmful to health if the government does not regulate its sale.

Community leader Kennedy Bukat said vape should be banned because people who do not smoke will resort to using vape instead. Vaping produces more thick smoke than a normal cigarette.

He said the health of people in the midst of vape smokers should be considered even though it is only flavored ingredients. Vape users exude a more professional appearance but is not beneficial, especially among the youths.

Another community leader, Garius Pukin, described vape as attracting more cigarette smokers due to the new trend of using flavored liquid substance. He said the government is desperately trying to prevent an increase in cigarette smokers through specific advertising and by raising the price of cigarettes.

“By allowing the use of vape as an alternative highlights the failure of the government to reduce the number of smokers of all ages, and the question is whether the school can prevent vape from being brought to school with a school bag? I do not quite agree that the use of vape is justified and I support for vape to be banned,” he said.

A primary school teacher, Martin Limar, argued that a detailed study is required before vape is banned. He said if vape is banned, then cigarettes should also be banned. The rationale being that not only are both of these items dangerous to human health but it also have a negative impact on society, especially on today's younger generation.

Native chief Malitus Anastasius agreed that vaping should be banned if it was harmful to health but businessman Edgbert Manjin disagreed because it was not the same as cigarettes.

A cultural activist from Tenom, Abdul Karim Gullam, who had smoked from 1971 but quit in 1985, said he had

stopped buying cigarettes for three months before he fully stopped smoking.

"During that time there was no vape, but if there was, maybe I would also choose vape as a way to stop, rather than buying candy beans and so on.

"Therefore, I do not agree that vape be banned, but its contents must be ascertained to be more safe in terms of health," he said.

Nevertheless, he said he hoped teenagers would not be swayed or influenced by vape because many people were using it as a way for them to stop smoking.

Karim stressed that it was not fair to ban vape.

Sook Community Development Leader Charles Ikang said the ban on vape was subject to how the Ministry of Health saw it in terms of health.

"If vape is a better option than smoking, I also support the use of vape," he said.

Vape user Jeep Rahman was in total support of Minister of Youth and Sports, Khairy Jamaluddin, that the

government's move to ban vape in the country was not desirable.

"A majority of vape users constituted of youths or young people. It can harm the confidence of young people on the government when decisions are taken unfairly. The measures benefit only one party," he said.