PETALING JAYA: The latest directive by the Health Ministry on the sales of vapes that contain nicotine will only kill the Malay-dominated industry, said Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
The Minister for Rural and Regional Development said the Health Ministry should review its decision that only licensed pharmacists and registered medical practitioners could sell the nicotine-laced vapes.
He said the move would only kill the businesses generally owned by Malays.
"Another shocking statement by the Health Ministry. The vape sellers can no longer be in business as giant companies own the pharmacies, including the foreign ones,” said Ismail Sabri in a post on his Facebook account on Tuesday.
He added that he hoped the Health Ministry could review their proposal by taking into account the losses that these businesses may incur.
Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah had on Monday said that e-cigarettes that contain nicotine can only be sold by licensed pharmacists and registered medical practitioners.
He said the sale of e-cigarettes with nicotine requires registration under the Control of Drugs and Cosmetic Regulations 1984, Sale of Drugs Act 1952.
Ismail said he hoped the Health Ministry could consult the vape business owners to come up with a "win-win situation" and at the same time introduce a set of regulations for the industry.
Vape is ‘haram’ for Muslims, declares fatwa council
Published: 18 August 2015 10:45 AM
MALAYSIAN INSIDER
What was a fad has turned mainstream as more people take to e-cigarettes instead of regular cigarettes. Such practice has now been declared illegal by local Muslim authorities. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Afif Abd Halim, August 18, 2015.Using electronic cigarettes, also known as Vape, is now haram for Muslims, the National Fatwa Council has decreed, Utusan Malaysia reported today.
The council's chairman Professor Emeritus Tan Sri Dr Abd Shukor Husin said the decision was based on laws that were used against shisha, also known as water pipes or hookahs.
"We have discussed the issue of cigarettes and shisha and we can equate it with the Vape. Firstly, it is dangerous, second, it is wasteful and third, it is detrimental to health. So when the effects are the same, we have declared it as haram," he was quoted as saying.
"We have decided and there is no problem (with the fatwa). In fact, the Health Ministry has informed that they are waiting for (findings) from experts but we have gone ahead because fundamentally, if it is detrimental and wasteful, then we cannot agree to something like that."
On July 17, 2013, the Fatwa Committee of the National Council for Islamic Affairs said that shisha or water-pipe smoking was haram for Muslims.
It had said then that shisha smoking would have a detrimental effect in the health of the individual, national economic growth and shaping of future generations.
The committee found that all scientific findings from comprehensive studies in the country and internationally proved that shisha smoking was bad for health, and its widespread practice, particularly among youths and women, was worrying.
The Vape, or electronic cigarette (e-cig or e-cigarette), personal vaporizer (PV) or electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) are battery-powered vaporisers that simulates the feeling of smoking, but without the tobacco combustion.
Last week, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam was reported as saying that smoking using shisha, electronic cigarettes or Vaping devices should be temporarily stopped until findings on the risks are announced in two months’ time.
He said the ministry was in discussions with various agencies and related parties to get their views on the effects these methods of smoking have on health.
"From the ministry's viewpoint, we deem these to be also smoking but just using different methods. The smokers will experience the usual effects of smoking except that the tar content might be lower while the nicotine effect remains the same.
"Don't make it (shisha or electronic cigarette smoking) a habit or think it is fashionable," he had warned. – August 18, 2015.
- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/vape-is-haram-for-muslims-declares-fatwa-council#sthash.c53ULJPI.dpuf
.jpg)
