Shisha stick smoking: New trend among school teens
Published on: Thursday, August 13, 2015
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Kuala Lumpur: While the ganja-flavoured electronic cigarette issue has not even subsided, electronic shisha stick smoking, which can be addictive, has become the latest trend among school teenagers.With shape and size like a pen, it is concealable and comes in a variety of colours, according to a posting by a Facebook user, who also uploaded the photo of the stick.The affordable price, with a variety of flavours, make it a draw for students to purchase it.
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The posting was shared by other Facebook users and went viral since last week.Bernama discovered that the sticks were secretly sold to certain groups and could be found, among others, in convenience stores in the city.
The news agency's reporter, in his early 40s, who was posing as a buyer at the Danau Kota late-night market in Setapak, here, failed to buy the item when a trader of electronic cigarettes gave so many reasons not to sell it.The trader, who only wanted to be known as Nizam, initially did not admit that he sold the sticks but after much persuasion, he revealed to have sold them before. "I had sold it before, but now no stock," he said.
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However, the reporter's, in his early 20s, who posed as a student, managed to buy a shisha stick in a Jalan Bukit Bintang convenience store selling groceries from the Middle East.The stick was not sold openly and the trader, known as Malek, only took out the stick when the previous customer exited the store.
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"Do you want this one (shisha stick)?" asked Malek, adding that he only had eight sticks left. Malek seemed nervous during the transaction.Bukit Aman Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department director, Datuk Seri Mohd Mokhtar Mohd Shariff said shisha stick, also known as shisha pen or hookah pen was categorised as electronic cigarette and had the same function as the vapor cigarette.Shisha stick is not as popular as the vapour because of the little liquid content, so it does not give much satisfaction to users compared to the vapour."As of today, there is no law prohibiting the use of the shisha stick," he said.
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He said the department, in collaboration with the Education Ministry and Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry would monitor abuse of the item by adding drugs to it.Mohd Mokhtar said checks revealed that the shisha stick was not a new method for smuggling and distribution of drugs in the country. – Bernama