“Electronic cigarettes or vape are as harmful as regular cigarettes” – Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had said the statement during his keynote address at the 26th International Federation of NGOs (non-governmental organisations) for the Prevention of Drug and Substance Abuse (IFNGO) conference and the concurrent 22nd IFNGO ASEAN NGOs Workshop here Monday.

Electronic cigarettes or vape are as harmful as regular cigarettes due to the nicotine content in the products, says former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad."Believe me, vape is bad and equal to cigarettes. Vape has a nice smell and it’s tasty. When you smoke cigarettes, you just get the smoke smell. But when you vape, you get a nice smell like strawberry and mango."The good smell is the way to promote the vape products".

In addition, Dr Mahathir also called on the public, especially parents, to teach the younger generation and make them understand that drugs can ruin their health and life.

"Parents must tell them drugs will shorten their life and instil positive teachings to hate drugs. If they (the younger generation) are brought up by believing in the values, they themselves will fight the temptation to use drugs," he said.

Today, people take drugs because they are addicted and want to change something in their lives, he said."It is worse today because drugs lead to crimes, such as stealing and killing. For example, if a boy has been deprived of money by his mother or father to buy drugs, he would not hesitate to kill them."To get drugs, he would steal money and in the process of stealing, if he meets resistance, he would use weapons to kill," Dr Mahathir said.

He also called on the international community to cooperate to eradicate the distribution of drugs.