MMA president Dr Azizan Abdul Aziz said the delay has led to significant public health risks and allowed the vaping industry to “exploit” regulatory gaps.

“We have been informed that the draft regulations were already completed since the end of last year but there has been no news about it since.

“The government must explain the reasons for this delay,” she said in a statement.

Azizan said it was troubling to hear that 111 cases of exposure to questionable vape liquid were reported to the National Poison Centre between 2015 and last year.

“This was apart from the reported cases of e-cigarette and vape-associated lung injury (Evali). It was also reported that a number of these cases involved minors,” she said, referring to statistics revealed in the Dewan Rakyat last week.

Azizan said key concerns over the delay include the troubling trend where mobile vape kiosks are being set up around universities and schools.

“The aggressive marketing of vaping as trendy and desirable is deeply concerning as it can foster long-term addiction, particularly among impressionable youths,” she said.

She also said early nicotine addiction not only poses severe health risks but also necessitates intensive behavioural management.

“If left unaddressed, the current exposure to vaping among youths will complicate the management of non-communicable diseases in the future, burdening the healthcare system, reducing productivity, and imposing socio-economic strains on families and the nation,” she said.

On June 8, health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said the use of e-cigarettes would be strictly regulated under the new smoking control law to be enforced.

He said the regulations on supervision would be implemented first when the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 comes into force, making smoking products, including vape, heavily regulated.

However, upon checking the Attorney-General’s Chambers federal legislation website today, FMT found that the legislation is not yet in force.