Malaysia Health Department Cracks Down on Underage E-Cigarette Sales

According to a report from Sinar Harian on August 15th, the health department of Terengganu, Malaysia recently stated that from early 2024 to July, a total of 1061 cases of selling e-cigarettes or e-cigarette devices to individuals under the age of 18 have been recorded.

The State Health Department Director, Datuk Dr Kasemani Embong, stated that strict measures will be taken by the department upon discovering the sale of e-cigarettes to minors.

Kasemani pointed out that the current situation of youth smoking and e-cigarette use is worsening. Law enforcement has conducted inspections at various sales points to ensure that regular cigarettes and e-cigarettes are not sold to individuals under 18, and reminded store owners not to sell e-cigarettes to minors.

Kassimani further revealed that as of July this year, a total of 831 operations were conducted, inspecting 15,346 sales points. According to the 2004 Tobacco Control Regulations, 5,431 violation notices were issued, totaling fines of 1.34 million Malaysian Ringgit (301,000 US dollars). This figure represents a 24.4% increase compared to the 4,366 violation notices (fines of 1.01 million Ringgit [227,000 US dollars]) issued during the same period in 2023.

Of all the violations, smoking in non-smoking areas accounted for the highest proportion, including 3,691 violation notices for traditional cigarettes and 1,061 violation notices for e-cigarettes.

In addition, Kassimani also stated that in the latest enforcement operation, 120 smoke-free areas including restaurants, tobacco retail stores, and government agencies were inspected. 23 violation notices were issued, resulting in fines totaling 6250 Malaysian Ringgit (1408 US dollars).

The most common violation is smoking inside restaurants, with a total of 19 cases. In addition, there are two cases of selling cigarettes below the minimum price and two cases of not displaying 'no smoking' signs.