‘Flying off the shelves’: Vapes flourishing in Johor, even as more Malaysian states emulate its 2016 ban

JOHOR BAHRU: At B Point, a bustling corner in Johor Bahru known for its shophouses offering money changer services, eateries and small grocers, a handful of retailers sell devices that look like toys. 

Shaped like candy containers, flash drives and headphone cases with sloped chimneys for inhalation, they hang openly across the wall.

But the labels for sweet-scented flavours - strawberry cheesecake, butterscotch doughnut and even local twists such as teh tarik and “apam balik” (peanut pancake) - are signs of something more sinister. 

These vapes - colourful electronic cigarettes - have been banned in Johor since the state government became the country’s first to stop issuing sales licensing for the products in 2016, as decreed by its ruler Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar. 

But despite being located just across the road from the Johor Bahru City Council (MBJB) main building, the municipal authority tasked with enforcing the ban, the stores are selling the vapes brazenly.

“The neighbouring shops also sell these vapes, not just us, so how can it be illegal?” said one grocery shopkeeper, a Bangladeshi national who wanted to be known only as Mr Ahmad. 

Another retail manager, who declined to be named, told CNA that the shop he was managing had a legitimate licence as a grocery store, but that it also sold e-cigarettes “on the side”. 

“There is huge demand for these (vapes) … they fly off the shelves, especially on peak periods during weekends,” he added. 

The area is a popular haunt for Singaporean visitors, typically the first pit stop as drivers and motorcyclists enter the country through the Woodlands Causeway.

Both retailers said that more than half of their customers who purchase vapes are from across the Causeway, evident by the foreign number plates of their vehicles. 

CNA visited four of the minimarts selling vapes on Wednesday (Nov 27), identifying as reporters. The other two shopkeepers declined to comment.

According to checks done by CNA, strong sales of vapes have seemingly continued at B-point, and across various areas in southern Johor such as Pasir Gudang and Tebrau districts, in spite of the ban.

Vapes have come under the spotlight in recent weeks as other Malaysian states began taking their own actions against them. 

Last week, the east coast state of Terengganu announced that it would not renew the business license for vape sales, with chief minister Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar stressing that it was in the public interest. 

At an event in Kuantan earlier this month, Pahang ruler Sultan Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah called for a total ban on vapes in the state, saying he was concerned that youths vaping would serve as a gateway to drug addiction.

These recent actions have cast a spotlight back on Johor’s move almost a decade ago, prompting state authorities to speak out.

On Sunday, Johor Housing and Local Government Committee chairman Mohd Jafni Md Shukor maintained that no licences for the sale of vape liquids or e-cigarettes had been issued since 2016.

Malaysian health experts who spoke to CNA also praised Johor’s decision to outright ban the sale of vapes, and they said that this has propelled other states to consider similar action. 

However, they acknowledged that enforcement continues to be a challenge, especially since state government resources are limited and the federal government has not banned vaping outright. 

RETAILERS EXPLOIT LOOPHOLES TO CIRCUMVENT BAN: ANALYSTS 

In addition to retailers at B-point, vaping devices are also being sold openly at the Pandan Wholesale Wet Market, around 5 kilometres from the Causeway. 

At one store, vapes encompass around 75 per cent of the goods sold, while over-the-counter medication constituted the rest of sales, according to a store employee who spoke to CNA.

The seller, who wanted to be known only as Mr Khalid, told CNA that the store obtained its license as a pharmacy with the city council.

He claimed to be unaware that vapes were banned in Johor. 

“I am just the manager of this store, but the owner has never informed me (of) anything about this being illegal,” he said. 

He told CNA that nine in 10 of his customers were Singaporeans and that many pre-order in advance when new stock arrives. 

Experts told CNA that shops like these, including those in B-point, have exploited loopholes in the state law by registering for licenses to sell other products, but they would also offer vape products as a significant portion of their business. 

Dr Leevyadhashiny Ganasan, medical officer and community health lead for the National Cancer Society of Malaysia (NCSM), told CNA that such instances are inevitable as the vape business is lucrative and businessmen would eagerly exploit any legal loopholes to continue selling. 

“If they ban this and (close the loopholes), the businesses would find some other way to sell their products. From the public health perspective, the challenge is to keep it clean, eradicate all these (loopholes),” said Dr Ganasan. 

A large customer base of these businesses are Singaporeans.

Johor's southern neighbour banned the consumption and sales of vapes in 2018. 

According to statistics released by Singapore's Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and Health Sciences Authority (HSA), 3,840 people were caught possessing or using vapes in the third quarter of this year, a 52 per cent hike from the previous quarter. 

The ICA and HSA said they had conducted several joint operations at the air, sea and land checkpoints as enforcement. 

Under the Tobacco Act, the possession, use or purchase of e-vaporisers, or vapes, in Singapore carries a maximum fine of S$2,000 (US$1,493).

It is also an offence to import, distribute, sell or offer vapes and their components for sale.

A person convicted of this offence may face a fine of up to S$10,000, a jail term of up to six months, or both, for the first offence. The maximum fine and jail term are doubled for a subsequent offence.

Over on the east side of Johor Bahru in Pasir Gudang, CNA visited a store that was marked on Google Maps as a “shop that sells vapes nearby”. 

The store, located on the second floor along a row of shophouses, had no signboard. It was listed as an office space in the building’s directory. The store was also locked from the inside but CNA was allowed to enter by the store’s manager who wanted to be known only as “Edge”.

He admitted that he was aware that the business was not legal in Johor, but he maintained that the store would only sell to customers on a "registered members" list of priority clients.

“We don’t sell to kids or school children, because we do not want to exploit them,” he said, noting that 50 per cent of his customer base were Singaporean visitors. 

“We work on sales commission so we market online, via social media and through apps like Telegram and WhatsApp,” the manager added.  

He added that the business had been raided by MBJB officials twice before - and that all the goods had been seized and he was detained by local authorities.

“After the wind died down, we opened back up again in a different location,” he said. 

In March, the Johor state government representative Mr Jafni acknowledged that he was aware that vapes were still being sold in Johor but that the number was “not significant” and sales are “limited to certain areas only”. 

He also stressed that traders who persisted in selling vapes will face “strict action” but he did not specify how they may be penalised. 

CNA has reached out to Johor’s Housing and Local Government Committee on whether it would look to close these loopholes that businesses are using to continue to sell vapes, and if it was looking to step up enforcement action.

TOUGH FOR STATE AUTHORITIES TO ENFORCE BAN: EXPERTS 

Despite those seemingly using loopholes to continue vape sales, experts CNA spoke to said Johor has set a positive example by banning the sales of vape products completely.

Malaysian Medical Association president Kalwinder Singh Khaira told CNA that the Johor state government not issuing licenses was a positive example of authorities utilising a “pathway” to put an end to the habit among youths. 

“This is one of the ways to prevent the habit from spiralling out of control. The other states could follow suit, this will depend on pressure from the population and the community,” said Dr Singh. 

However, he acknowledged that state authorities had fewer resources than federal authorities to do enforcement raids and spot checks at retailers, and this could prove challenging in ensuring a widespread ban is adhered to. 

“State authorities are limited by resources, and they are encumbered by other tasks … and on whether the federal government will ban it outright, we have to wait and see,” added Dr Singh. 

He cited how at the federal level, the health ministry recently announced that it would continue to regulate vaping through the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act, which was implemented on Oct 1. 

But he noted that this implementation, which will be done in stages, only amounted to limiting the public's access to e-cigarettes, particularly among children and teenagers - and not an outright ban. 

The federal government has also faced difficulties pushing through laws to phase out smoking.

In 2022, Malaysia first mooted a smoking control law as part of a Generational Endgame bill which aimed to prohibit consumption of tobacco and smoking products for individuals born on or after Jan 1, 2007.

It would have made Malaysia only the second nation in the Asia-Pacific region, after New Zealand, to mandate a smoking ban for future generations.

The bill was scrapped in November 2023 amid pressure from businesses. The Attorney General deemed the age-based prohibition unconstitutional because it would create two sets of laws based on age.

In May the Star reported a 600 per cent increase in the number of e-cigarette users in the country over the past 12 years, citing a 2023 survey.

In August, local media reported that e-cigarettes and vapes were the most popular nicotine products among youth.

The growing phenomenon of vaping has also led to additional financial costs.

Dr Singh expressed concerns as to how vaping has led to cases of individuals suffering from lung issues including e-cigarette or vaping use-associated lung injury (EVALI). 

NCSM’s Dr Ganasan echoed similar sentiments, outlining that just like cigarettes, vapes contain nicotine which triggers addiction and damages the lungs and respiratory tract. 

Since 2019, Malaysia’s Ministry of Health has recorded 41 cases of EVALI with each hospitalised patient requiring up to RM150,000 (US$33,482) for a 12-day stay.

Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad added that Malaysia’s healthcare system could incur annual costs of up to US$82 million by 2030 to treat lung injuries linked to e-cigarette use, cautioning that this rising expense will further strain public health resources. 

On the other hand, vape retailers are crying foul because the industry creates employment. 

According to statistics published by the Malaysia Vape Industry Advocacy in 2023, the retail value of Malaysia’s vape market is estimated at nearly RM3.5 billion. 

The Pasir Gudang vape seller known as “Edge” told CNA that his income has doubled from when he previously worked in an eatery. 

“I am able to take care of (my) elderly parents better,” he said. 

“It seems like the vape industry is unfairly treated, cigarettes are being sold openly but for vapes, we are risking getting arrested.”

However, the Malaysian Medical Association's Dr Singh maintained that the argument that vaping should be allowed because it provides jobs fails to consider the costs associated with health issues. 

“There are finances associated with treatment costs, loss of productivity, financial burden on families etc.,” said Dr Singh. 

“If (medical professionals) can have it our way, both cigarettes and vapes should be banned,” he added.