Experts: Vaping can lead to drug-taking

The exemption of liquid nicotine as a controlled substance under the Poisons Act 1952 in March this year triggered allegations that the move will effectively legalise the sale of electronic cigarettes or vapes.

The issue came on the radar again on Monday after the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Bill 2023, aimed at controlling the sale and purchase of tobacco products, smoking materials, tobacco substitutes and smoking devices, was referred to the Parliamentary Special Select Committee on Health for further scrutiny.

This is the first of a two-part article on the incidence of vaping and how it is causing youths to experiment with drugs.

KUALA LUMPUR - Ridzuan Ahmad and a close friend of his started using a vape three years ago when they were just 15. Apparently, they became fascinated by vaping after seeing their friends, who they hung out with at a park in Selangor, doing so.

What started as a seemingly harmless inhalation just to taste the liquid nicotine eventually developed into an addiction.

"My friend and I had never smoked before that. I don’t know for what reason we got the desire to vape but we decided to give it a try after our friends urged us to do so. I liked the taste (of the liquid nicotine or e-juice) and, I guess, became hooked. These days, if I don’t get to vape, my lips become dry and I feel emotionally unstable and angry,” Ridzuan told Bernama.

Their addiction is growing by the day. In the early days of vaping, he and his friend used to take about 800 inhalations each to satisfy their craving for a week. But now they need 3,500 inhalations a week, or 10,000 over three weeks to keep them satisfied.

Three months after they started vaping, Ridzuan noticed his friend’s face looked pale while his eyes were bloodshot. He also appeared to be unfocused and "spaced out” all the time.

"I found out he was vaping on magic mushroom (a type of fungus that can cause hallucinations), something a friend of his introduced him to. I tried to make him stop but he refused to listen to me. It has affected our friendship. Sometimes I wish he will get caught by the police because I can’t bear to see him in that condition,” said Ridzuan, who is studying at a skills college in Selangor.

VAPING CAN LEAD TO DRUG-TAKING Meanwhile, according to several experts and health-related non-governmental organisations (NGOs) contacted by Bernama, the tendency for vape users, particularly youths, to inhale drug-laced e-liquids is becoming "increasingly alarming”.

Besides magic mushrooms, other drugs mixed into e-liquids include methamphetamines, amphetamines, heroin, codeine, Percocet and Ritalin.

The Malaysian Substance Abuse Council had previously expressed their concern about this trend, saying that this year they expect an increase in the number of youths involved in drugs with the contributing factors being the sale of unregistered vape devices and lack of regulatory control which make it easy for youths to use magic mushroom- or other drug-laced e-liquids.

Universiti Malaya Centre for Addiction Science studies lecturer Associate Prof Dr Rusdi Abd Rashid called for more controls over the sale of magic mushrooms.

"It’s worrying (youngsters are using magic mushroom-laced e-liquids)... by right, it shouldn’t be sold to children and even adults for that matter. The government must do something,” he said.

Magic mushrooms, also known as ‘shrooms’, can be pricey and a bottle containing 10 millilitres of liquid laced with mushroom costs RM150 compared to around RM15 for ordinary vape liquids. In fact, some of the magic mushroom e-juices are sold under the guise of the fruity or creamy flavours that are popular among vapers.

According to the National Poisons Centre website, magic mushrooms contain an active substance called psilocybin which produces hallucinogenic effects.

Ridzuan said besides his friend, he also knows of many others in his housing area (in Selangor) who use drug-laced vape liquids.

"Some students in the school I went to previously were also taking it. Some of them were in Form 2. Even girls were involved in it. Usually, they don’t vape in school as they are scared of getting caught when they become ‘high’ after vaping.

"To tell the truth, they are not from rich families but they are addicted to the ganja (cannabis) vaping liquid. To fund their habit, some of them steal or force their parents to give them money. If they are not given any money, they can turn violent or rebellious,” he said.

Ridzuan still vapes but stays away from drugs. His advice for youths is to steer clear of vaping, saying even harmless experimentation can open the door to drug addiction.

He added that based on his own experience, he feels Malaysia badly needs adequate laws to control e-smoking and he fears that the lack of legislation may give rise to new generations of nicotine addicts who are at risk of finding themselves ensnared in drugs.

RESCIND DECISION According to the National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2022 report, released by the Institute of Public Health at the Ministry of Health (MOH), 60,000 adolescents in Malaysia were on narcotics while another 106,000 had a history of experimenting with drugs.

The survey, conducted from June 12 to July 8, 2022, involved students aged between 13 and 17 and was aimed at establishing adolescent health behaviours and trends.

Meanwhile, experts and health NGOs interviewed by Bernama are frustrated that the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Bill 2023 will not be passed by the Dewan Rakyat during the current meeting which ends today.

The Bill - which, among others, proposes provisions for the generational end-game policy including prohibiting the sale of tobacco products and smoking substances to persons born on Jan 1, 2007, and onwards - was tabled at the Dewan Rakyat for first reading by Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa on Monday (June 12) but she later announced it will be referred to the Parliamentary Special Select Committee on Health for further scrutiny.

This is the second time the Bill is being referred to the select committee, the first time being last year after the then Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin tabled it - then known as the Control of Tobacco and Smoking Products Bill 2022 - at the Dewan Rakyat for first reading on July 22 and second reading on Aug 2.

The experts and health NGOs are also urging MOH to rescind its decision to exempt nicotine from the purview of the Poisons Act, claiming that it will allow vape or e-cigarette products to be sold openly to the public including children.

These products, currently, do not come under the control of the Food Act 1983 as the latter only covers the use of tobacco leaf-based products. Vape and e-cigarettes are considered non-tobacco products as they use liquid nicotine.

EASILY AVAILABLE Consumer Association of Penang (CAP) education officer and anti-smoking activist NV Subbarow said CAP surveys and complaints by parents have revealed vape products being sold near schools for below RM20 each (800 inhalations).

"It’s scary because they (schoolchildren) can buy it openly. As long as there is no law in place, it’s not an offence for the sellers to sell them to children and adolescents. Vapes are not only being sold at specialty vape stores but are also available at sundry shops,” he said.

Specialty vape outlets are mushrooming in this country. Not only that, vape products are also sold on social media and certain e-commerce platforms at various prices, some for as low as RM13. They come in various shapes and colours that are bound to catch the eye of underage youths.

A random survey of vape stores in the Klang Valley by Bernama showed that disposable vape products and mango-flavoured liquid nicotine were popular among vapers including children and teenagers as their prices were low and refills were not needed.

Even more worrying, Bernama found some shops allowed their loyal customers to buy vape products on credit. There were also vape shops located near housing areas, making them easily accessible to underage youths.

It is also interesting to note that some e-cigarette devices resemble sanitisers and toys and even sweets, putting at risk children who buy them thinking they are edible.

Recently, MOH said in a statement that a two-year-old girl from Bera, Pahang, was believed to have suffered acute nicotine poisoning. She was found coughing, vomiting and having difficulty breathing by her grandfather who spotted a disposable e-cigarette device on the floor near her.

Based on National Poisons Centre data, 77 poisoning cases due to nicotine exposure from e-cigarettes were reported from 2015 till last year. This year alone, seven such cases were reported, five of them involving children.

The centre has said in media reports that lately an increasing number of poisoning cases due to vape exposure has been detected nationwide. It said a large number of vape liquid poisoning cases involved children aged between one and four, with the youngest case being a three-month-old baby.

FALSE CLAIMS An MOH officer who did not want to be identified said some e-cigarette sellers claim they are retailing vapes containing zero nicotine but "when we bring them to the laboratory for testing, 97 percent of the samples are found to contain nicotine and it is not synthetic nicotine but the actual one”.

"And, tests done by the National Poisons Centre have shown some vape liquids contain as high as 80 milligrammes of nicotine per litre. The amount is really high and children certainly can’t tolerate it,” he said.

CAP’s Subbarow said the government must do something to control the sale of vape products as it has now become a trend for young people to shift to vaping.

Based on NHMS 2022 figures, e-cigarette use among teens aged 13 to 17 rose from 9.8 percent in 2017 to 14.9 percent in 2022.

"According to a study we did from early this year till May, 3,000 out of 5,000 students studying in colleges and universities throughout the country admitted to being vape users. It’s frightening to note that 75 percent of them were not smokers in the first place.

"While waiting for the (Control of Smoking Products for Public Health) Bill to be passed, the government must do something to prevent our young generation from becoming nicotine addicts,” added Subbarow. - BERNAMA