Vaping can lead to drug use, says ex-deputy police chief

Putrajaya is still conflicted over vaping, the latest trend catching on with young Malaysians. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, November 10, 2015.Trends in vaping in other countries have shown that users of electronic cigarettes or vaporisers are mixing drugs with vape oils, former deputy inspector-general of police Tan Sri Mohd Najib Abdul Aziz said in a report by Sinar Harian today.

This trend, which he said had emerged in the United States, opened the door to drug use, the Malay daily quoted him as saying.

“It is done by diluting drugs in liquid form such as syabu, marijuana and other substances. These drugs are then added to the vaporiser and inhaled.

“This is already a trend in the United States. So it is better to ban vape before such a trend of mixing drugs in vape spreads to this country,” the retired senior policeman told the paper.

Najib was also formerly director of the police's narcotics criminal investigation department.

This method of mixing drugs with vape oils would make the work of enforcement officers more difficult, he said.

"It will be hard to detect. US anti-drug authorities have found that drugs in vape can only be detected through laboratory tests."

Drugs in vape oils would not be as easy to detect as in pill form, and it was difficult to tell whether a person vaping was using regular flavoured vape liquid or drugs, he added.

Najib said he observed that school children had also picked up vaping.

"Indirectly, it makes it easier for the young to be exposed to drug use," he said, and reiterated his support for a ban on vaping.

Putrajaya is still grappling with the fledging but lucrative industry as vaping catches on with those trying to quit smoking and others keen on trying a new trend.

Its approach, however, has been conflicting. The Cabinet decided not to ban it but the Health Ministry has moved to raid vape stores to seize oils that contain nicotine.

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah yesterday said that vape with nicotine content could only be sold by licensed pharmacists and registered medical practitioners, as unauthorised sale of nicotine was an offence under the Poison Act 1952. – November 10, 2015.