This article presents the issues and challenges of e-cigarettes (e-Cigs) regulation in Malaysia. e-Cigs are now increasingly popular among young people, but they may have harmful long-term effects on their users. The Malaysian government, through the Malaysian Ministry of Health (MOH), has recently announced that nicotine, including tobacco, patches, chewing gum, liquid nicotine, and nicotine gel, is now exempt from the Poisons Act 1952. The government's decision to exempt the substance from the Poisons Act 1952, allowing e-Cigs containing nicotine and propylene glycol in various flavours, is not mandatory to comply with the rules and regulations set by the government. This phenomenon has sparked a polemic among the general public, medical experts, entrepreneurs, and e-Cigs manufacturers. Based on a literature review and the pathetic dot theory, the researchers have identified the variables and developed a conceptual framework by illustrating the relationship between the constructs in order to gauge the perception of the general public in Malaysia pertaining to the introduction of rules and regulations on e-Cigs. As such, four factors have been identified that can shape the regulation of e-Cigs, namely technology, economics, laws, and societal norms. With the establishment of this conceptual framework, the researchers hope that it can guide this study in a clearer direction subsequently to achieve the research objectives. Next, based on the conceptual framework, the researchers are able to continue to develop questionnaires as an instrument for data collection in this study.
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