UMS to ban vaping on campus
Published on: Tuesday, December 01, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) is in the midst of drawing up a rule to ban vaping on campus and intends to enforce it as soon as possible. Vice Chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Mohd Harun Abdullah on Monday said the ban follows an existing no-smoking restriction and is in line with its eco-campus goals. "Our Student Affairs and Alumni Department will make the announcement as we are now still in the process of taking action," he told the Daily Express, here.
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The government had in late October decided not to ban or regulate vaping at the moment despite concerns that the trend is fast catching up among teenagers under the age of 18. It is estimated that there a million vapers nationwide and about 10 per cent of them are under 18 who fuel the industry, which is valued at about RM500 million. Last week Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh retracted his earlier call to ban vaping in all 20 public universities in the country, instead allowing the universities to decide for themselves whether to ban vaping at their institutions, like smoking in some universities. Private institutions were also encouraged to enforce the ban.
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Idris said the ministry now plans to undertake a study on the health and social effects of vaping before coming out with a decision with Idris, naming Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Universiti Sains Malaysia as being tasked with delivering a paper to the ministry to present to the Cabinet later.But a behavioural expert from UKM has stated that while vaping does not address the problem of nicotine addiction it draws new users and thus a ban should be imposed in higher learning institutions.
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Associate Professor Dr Wee Lei Hum said young people tended to follow their peers and shift from one habit to another."Since vaping has been banned in public universities, it should also be banned in private universities as well. Schools should also be smoke and vape-free," said Dr Lee who is a smoking cessation and behavioural change specialist. At the same time, students in the primary and secondary schools have already been warned that they might be expelled if they are caught vaping.This comes following reports that children as young as 12 had been caught vaping and Idris has called on parents to assist them to put a stop to the vaping trend among children. "We have a committee at the State Education Department, District Education Department and schools to identify students who undertake such acts and actions or punishments that can be meted out would depend on the severity of the cases, Idris said. "The heaviest punishment would be expulsion from school while the lightest would be a warning and advice given to the student concerned, together with their parents," he added.Sabah Education Director Datuk Jame Alip agreed that vaping should not be allowed near school areas, saying such activity is also as bad as smoking. "No, vaping should not be allowed in schools and doing so near school compounds will encourage school-going children, classmates and others to pick up the habit," he said. Although, grateful no students have been caught vaping in Sabah schools yet, Jame expressed his fear that vaping does occur among the young off school hours. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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