Time to revive GEG, Tuan Ibrahim tells govt

Free Malaysia Today

28-04-2025

Deputy IGP Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said more states should ban the sale of e-cigarettes and vapes as they were becoming increasingly linked to the abuse of new synthetic drugs.
PETALING JAYA : PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man has urged the government to consider reviving the generational endgame (GEG) bill as several states consider banning the sale of vapes and e-cigarettes.
The Kubang Kerian MP said Putrajaya should emulate Johor and Terengganu in banning the sale of vapes and e-cigarettes, with Terengganu's ban coming into effect on Aug 1.
He pointed out that the Kedah, Penang and Selangor governments were also mulling following suit.
'This step should have been taken by the unity government long ago, but it places more importance on the tax revenue it earns from the vape industry than the more concerning health effects, especially on youths.
'For the sake of the health and wellbeing of future generations, the government of the day should continue the measures taken by the previous Perikatan Nasional-led government.
'If the people's health is truly the priority and the government sincerely wants to put an end to this vape problem, then implementing the GEG is the right move. It's now up to the unity government,' he said in a Facebook post.
Tuan Ibrahim pointed out that the Malaysian Vape Chamber of Commerce previously estimated that there were more than 1.5 million vape users in Malaysia in 2022, and said this was bound to increase annually.
The GEG provision, which was to ban the sale and use of tobacco products to those born on or after Jan 1, 2007, was removed from the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Bill 2023.
Health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad had even apologised to the Senate for the provision's exclusion, which the Attorney-General's Chambers had said would be unconstitutional.
Earlier this month, deputy inspector-general of police Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said more states should ban the sale of e-cigarettes and vapes as they were becoming increasingly linked to the abuse of new synthetic drugs.
Ayob said students as young as 13 have been caught using vapes containing substances mixed with drugs, and that fentanyl-laced vape liquids have been found, with effects 100 times stronger and more dangerous than morphine.
In response, Dzulkefly said the issuance of licences to vape and e-cigarette traders was under the purview of state and local authorities.
Terengganu announced that it would ban the sale of vapes and e-cigarettes from Aug 1, becoming the second state to do so after Johor, which introduced the ban in 2016.
Despite Tuan Ibrahim's call, public health expert Dr Sharifa Ezat Wan Puteh said stricter controls were better than banning vape outright, and that other nations that introduced GEG laws later abandoned them based on poor results.