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Most parents of students agree the new government should maintain the current ban on the import and sale of e-cigarettes, citing the potential health risk, according to the Research Centre for Social and Business Development (SAB). Suriyan Boontae, deputy director of the SAB, said 91% of the 5,582 respondents nationwide supported a continuation of the ban, saying it would limit young people's exposure to smoking. The survey was conducted among 4,087 parents of students from upper primary to high schools. The other respondents were teachers and school administrators.

TOBACCO and nicotine products sale and advertising still persist within the proximity of schools in the Philippines despite government regulations, a study shows. An observational study conducted by the Institute for Global Tobacco Control (IGTC) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health also finds that enforcement of the comprehensive ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship near schools is "one of the most cost-effective and high-impact ways to reduce demand for tobacco

The Kuala Lumpur High Court has rejected the bid by anti-tobacco and child rights interest groups to stay the declassification of liquid nicotine as a scheduled poison. The Malaysian Council for Tobacco Control, the Malaysian Green Lung Association, and Voice of the Children had sought a judicial review to quash the removal of liquid and gel nicotine from control under the Poisons Act 1952, gazetted by the health minister in an exemption order on March 31. According to CodeBlue, Justice Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh said the applicants needed to demonstrate special circumstances to justify the stay of the exemption order.

Bangladesh is close to imposing a total ban on nicotine vapes, which have helped tens of millions of people around the world quit smoking. The planned ban reportedly also includes oral nicotine pouches, another important harm reduction alternative in South Asia. If confirmed, it will be another major blow to harm reduction, when several Asian governments have enacted similar prohibitions. With almost 170 million people, Bangladesh is the eighth most populous country in the world. And it’s a major tobacco consumer. A national smoking rate of over 20 percent—often traditional bidi, as well as cigarettes—contains a large gender split. [...]

According to data released by the Russian Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) on August 28th, the sales volume of regular cigarettes in Russia is declining as smokers are shifting from traditional cigarettes to e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products. According to the data, the per capita retail sales volume of various types of cigarettes in Saint Petersburg, Russia, showed an average year-on-year decline of 47% from January to June 2023.

The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) today urged the government to ban vape and e-cigarettes amid continued debate over a move that aims to end the habit among future generations of Malaysians. CAP president Mohideen Abdul Kader said there are now two million vape smokers in the country. “According to the latest National Health and Morbidity Survey 2022, Malaysian teens aged 13 to 17 using e-cigarettes and vape rose from 9.8 per cent in 2017 to 14.9 per cent in 2022,” he said in a press conference at the CAP office here.

A seasoned lawmaker has said India needs to seriously take a relook at its tobacco laws, and those relating to e-cigarettes and heated tobacco because the health ministry’s ban on e-cigarettes is a missed public health opportunity. MV Rajeev Gowda, vice-chairperson, State Institute for Transformation of Karnataka and former Rajya Sabha member strongly feels e-cigarettes could have been an option to help smokers wean themselves off tobacco in India, the world’s second largest consumer of tobacco.

Despite having sufficient knowledge about the potential health risks associated with nicotine exposure, an increasing number of young people are getting hooked on e-cigarettes, smoking devices that are powered by a battery, says a study recently published in an online journal. Over 800 individuals with mean age 29.6 years participated in the study during which 43.4 per cent respondents reported using e-cigarettes. “This is significantly higher than a 2017 study conducted among adolescents when prevalence of e-cigarettes was just 24 per cent. The current study also found that the mean age at which people start using e-cigarettes is 17 years and that 58 per cent of people believe smoking makes young people look ‘cool’,” it says.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) in the Philippines said it will require importers of raw materials for vaping products to seek special clearances to release their shipments. [...] “For vape products, we are going to require them to (apply for) the authority to release imported goods for raw materials,” BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. said. “We are thinking of ways to regulate because there are so many vape products now. The production of vape products is a backyard industry, so we’re thinking of ways to regulate it.”

Hundreds of enforcement drives, putting up ‘No Smoking’ signs, and communication about the effects of smoking as well as second-hand smoke resulted in a 27 per cent reduction in smoking in public places in Bengaluru. Earlier this year, the city received international recognition for its efforts, said a case study in the recently released report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on the implementation of tobacco control measures.