Malaysia
Malaysian politician Gooi Hsiao Leung recently told Malaysia’s House of Representatives that vaping helped him give up smoking, a habit he said he had for over two decades. The lawmaker, who was making his case against the government’s clampdown on the vape trade, used his experience as an example of the benefits of vaping.
“I was [a] smoker myself, for more than 20 years,” the Alor Setar MP said. “And I couldn’t stop myself from smoking, I tried many ways to stop smoking… until I tried vape three months ago.
“In three weeks, I stopped smoking. I even stopped vaping. So, I believe based on other researches and my own experience, vape can help smokers face their withdrawal symptoms and prevent them from returning to smoking.”
However, the health ministry of the country, undeterred by criticism over its raids, insisted that “vaping” outlets cannot stock or sell vaping liquids that have nicotine in them as long as they are not approved to do so by the pharmacy board.