PETALING JAYA: Despite being dressed in their school uniforms, primary school children are no longer afraid of vaping and are buying them openly, says an anti-smoking advocate.
Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) education officer N.V. Subbarow claimed this was observed outside several schools in Sungai Ara, Penang where the children aged between 10 to 12 years-old were seen heading to the shops nearby to purchase vapes, and later using them.
"I received calls from teachers and parents there that minors were vaping, so I went to see this for myself.
"True enough, the children were doing so. When approached, they said they did not think it (vaping) was harmful. Even young girls were seen purchasing and using the devices," he claimed.
"A vape shop operator we spoke to also said they could not stop anyone from buying their products, with even restaurants openly advertising and selling the devices," he said.
He added that a survey by CAP in several parts of Penang last week also saw many teens freely entering vape shops in Penang to purchase the devices.
"Some looked very young with one person even admitting they were only 14," he said.
Restaurants too were freely advertising and selling vapes at their premises, Subbarow claimed.
"Vapes are sold openly at counters where anyone can come to buy them. Restaurants are a premise where people come to buy food but now even vapes are being sold there," he said.
He also called upon local authorities to monitor such situations, noting how the selling of vapes openly could encourage people, including minors, to openly purchase the devices.
"We are worried that this trend (of school going children vaping) will lead to an increasingly unhealthy situation for our future generations.
"The Health Ministry is urged to take immediate steps in curbing teens from buying all nicotine-based products freely, or the country may be faced with the prospect of setting up more rehabilitation centres in the future," he said.
