KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 28 — The Health Ministry is currently studying existing laws to look into legal ways to ban vaping in Malaysia, according to its minister Datuk Seri S Subramaniam.

Subramaniam said a ban would be the best solution as he believes the rising trend of vaping would be difficult to control if left unchecked.

“The long term plan is to ban vaping, so we are looking at efforts legally on how to implement this,” he told reporters when met at the Parliament lobby.

“If it were up to me, I would want to implement the ban as soon as possible because I feel we need to stop this before it becomes a big issue,” the minister added.

The National Fatwa Council has prohibited Muslims from vaping amid the rapid growth of the multi-million ringgit industry in Malaysia that is purportedly the second biggest in the world.

Local daily The Star reported last June Vaporizer Convention Kuala Lumpur 2015 co-organiser Ibrahim Mohamed as saying that Malaysia’s vape industry worth half a billion ringgit is the second biggest globally after the United States and is the largest in Asia.

Ibrahim reportedly said there are an estimated one million vapers in Malaysia.

The Star reported vapers as saying that the practice has helped them quit smoking.