BANGI: The Health Ministry will closely monitor the sale of electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes, said its minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai yesterday.
He noted that e-cigarettes containing liquid nicotine in various concentration were being sold in the market.
“Consumers must be aware that nicotine-laced e-cigarettes are harmful to health and can increase smoking addiction,” he told reporters after launching the ‘First 1,000 Days of Life Towards Building a Healthy Generation’ campaign at Bandar Seri Putra health clinic here yesterday.
Liow was asked to comment on Sarawak health director Datuk Dr Zulkifli Jantan’s statement that selling, distributing or storing e-cigarettes was an offence under the Poisons Act 1952 and Control of Drugs and Cosmetics Regulations 1984.
E-cigarettes which use liquid nicotine to produce the required vapour are believed to be sold rampantly and a hit with smokers. Liow said there was currently no control over the sale of e-cigarettes in the country as they were actually meant to reduce smoking addiction.
However, he said liquid nicotine was listed under the Poisons Act 1952 and it could only be sold through licensed pharmacists and registered medical practitioners. — Bernama