One of the challenges in the regulation of vaping has been the ever-changing state that the industry is in. In addition to the fact that the FDA encountered issues with defining dangerous vapes, other countries have also had problems. This has resulted in the issuance of a second prohibition on vaping in Cambodia. This ban, however, is also applicable to HTPs (Heated tobacco products), which implies that IQOS, as well as similar products, will be prohibited in Cambodia.
The laws of Cambodia are in line with the generally anti-vape attitudes in other South Eastern Asian countries. Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand, as well as other countries, are among the Southeast Asian countries that have banned the use of vape products. Vietnam has also announced that it will also prohibit smoking tobacco that is heated.
The Cambodian National Authority for Combating Drugs (NACD) has typically relied on the studies of the WHO to justify bans on electronic cigarettes. They generally argue that vapes serve as an intermediary drug to more hazardous substances. They also discuss the risk of spreading COVID if vapers are shared. Sharing vapes could be something that allows COVID-19 to grow, and we recommend against it.
But despite being outlawed for seven years, they express concern over the selling of vapes through social media. An underground market may have emerged due to vapor-related products being prohibited.
While the NACD hasn’t explained the decision to ban vapes, they likely sought to broaden the definition of “hi-tech products” to include HTPs as well as to insist that vapes are prohibited and should not be sold.
