The Malaysian Vapers Alliance (MVA) is urging the ministry of health to reconsider the vape display ban introduced under the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 (Act 852), set to take effect on April 1, 2025.
According to MVA, the display ban not only limits consumers’ right to make informed decisions but also places unnecessary restrictions on access to crucial product information.
“The display ban for vape creates significant obstacles for adult consumers seeking to make fact-based choices about the products they use. By preventing users from browsing or viewing product options at the point of sale, the ban directly impacts consumers’ ability to access key information and data about product quality, nicotine content, and flavor profiles—all critical factors in making informed purchasing decisions,” said MVA President Khairil Azizi Khairuddin.
“Beyond the practical limitations, by forcing vape products out of sight, the ban sends a stigmatizing message, implying that vape is socially unacceptable. This could deter smokers from making the switch to vape, leaving them feeling ashamed for even considering a less harmful alternative to smoking. It is demoralizing for those who are genuinely seeking a way to quit smoking, and it further isolates them from the harm reduction support they need.”
Limiting access to accurate information via a vape product display ban not only hinders transparency but also leaves consumers in the dark.
Banning product retail displays at retail outlets goes against basic consumer rights, MVA believes.
“Informed choice is a cornerstone of consumer rights. Limiting access to accurate information via a vape product display ban not only hinders transparency but also leaves consumers in the dark, unable to get the information they need to make choices.”
To this end, MVA urges the MoH to reconsider this element of Act 852 and remove the vape display ban.
“There are many adult vape users in Malaysia who have transitioned away from smoking. Our 2023 survey found 73.7 percent of vape users in Malaysia are former smokers. In fact, 80.1 percent of respondents had switched to vaping as a means to quit smoking. These statistics share a realistic view of the use case for vape. Restricting consumer access to product information counteracts harm reduction efforts, which seek to provide smokers with less harmful alternatives to traditional cigarettes.”
“We are calling on the MoH to remove the vape display ban from Act 852 and ensure that consumer rights are protected. Transparency and informed decision-making are key to the success of harm reduction strategies in Malaysia,” Khairil concluded.
The best aspect of Vaporesso’s Gen Max vaping system is that it’s reliable, affordable and simple.
By Mike Huml
The Gen Max is Vaporesso’s latest high-power, dual-battery mod offering that leans heavily into the old school billet box aesthetic while packing in a lot of modern features. The kit also includes the Vaporesso iTank T subohm tank to complete the package. The Gen Max is a powerhouse of unique features and another testament to the quality that Vaporesso is known for. But can a billet box, albeit a fancy one, compete in today’s vaping market?
The Gen Max is a lightweight aluminum box mod that’s powered by dual 18650 batteries in series for a maximum output of 220 watts. It technically uses single-button operation, but that button doubles as a dial for making adjustments and navigating the menu. A physical toggle switch below the primary button can lock the Gen Max to prevent accidental misfiring.
The battery door is completely removable and is held in place securely with magnets, and although the batteries can be removed for charging, they can also be charged internally via an included USB type-C cable. The screen is located on the side opposite of the battery door and is housed within a round window to give the screen a unique porthole-like look. The 510 connection is centered at the top of the mod and looks best with tanks or atomizers with up to a 24 mm diameter. All in all, it’s a very straightforward and minimalistic design, if a bit safe.
The iTank T is standard subohm tank fare, and that’s intended in the best possible way. It’s top-filling with top-down airflow, which completely eliminates leaking and gurgling and makes filling the tank very simple. The top cap is opened by pressing against the red arrow symbol to slide the cap to the side, revealing the fill port. The port is large and partially covered by silicone flaps to reduce messiness while also allowing for pressure to be released when filling.
The bottom cap of the tank unscrews to provide access to the coil, which is removed by simply pulling it out of the tank. Naturally, a new coil is then pressed in and the bottom cap replaced. By default, a bubble glass tank section is installed, which holds 6 mL of e-liquid, but a normal glass tank section is also included that allows the tank to hold 2 mL of liquid. Between the Gen Max mod and the iTank T, the Gen Max kit is a powerful yet simple setup with the potential for mass appeal. However, it’s a mixed bag with a few pain points that really hold it back.
Visually, the Gen Max is clearly crafted to high-quality standards, but billet box mods were never necessarily known for their looks. The centered 510 connection tends to look top-heavy, particularly when paired with large tanks such as the iTank T. An RDA might look more proportional, but even then, many RDAs and tanks these days have a diameter of 25 mm, and anything past 24 mm will cause overhang with the Gen Max mod, including the 24.5 mm iTank T.
That’s right—the tank that’s included with the kit overhangs the mod, even though the base of the tank tapers down to this diameter. It’s not so much that the tank is too big—it’s just not a perfect fit for the mod. Granted, the mod is relatively small, but a better tank option should have been included with the kit.
The tank itself is wonderful. It’s easy to use, quick to set up and vapes like a dream. Vapor is easily produced, and the flavor is mouth-filling with zero break-in time. One slight gripe is the difficulty of removing the coil. It’s a bit more recessed than some similar tanks and might require the use of fingernails to remove. Luckily, Vaporesso’s GTi mesh coils are long-lasting and don’t require frequent replacement.
Aside from that, everything else is fantastic, the airflow in particular. Not only does the iTank T allow for a wide range of airflow options with its smooth-turning airflow ring, but the airflow is incredibly smooth. Almost no turbulence can be detected, and the airflow is very quiet, although this can depend on the airflow setting. It’s a shame as there is simply no way around the fact that it looks goofy atop the Gen Max.
Speaking of the mod, it also can’t escape from a few odd quirks. First the positives—it uses two 18650 batteries, which are readily available and are the de facto standard for high-power mods. Every vaper has these laying around, and they’re reliable workhorses. The Gen Max is very lightweight and is a top contender for something portable for those no-compromise vapers out there.
The battery door has a bit of wiggle room, but no movement can be detected during normal use. The magnets that hold the door onto the mod are very strong, but the door is still removed easily enough thanks to a small groove at the bottom. Additionally, the screen is incredibly vivid—one of the best on the market to date—and the faux-porthole look is indeed eye-catching. Two curved LEDs on either side of the screen, along the edge of the porthole, really sell the effect. At the end of the day, however, it’s still a vertically oriented rectangular screen.
Due to the single-button and dial operation, navigating the menu is very easy. Three clicks of the button will bring up the menu options where the user can select from different themes, change the vaping mode, adjust the brightness and toggle Smart mode. However, the dial also inherently carries some downsides, chief of which is the accidental adjusting of the output power.
The dial is a bit on the loose side and small, and inadvertent adjustments are common while the device is being fired, and there is no way to lock the power output while still allowing the device to fire. What’s more, the output power cannot be changed unless the screen is active. That means if the user wanted to change the power output, they would need to fire the device for a split second before they can do so. And it can’t be ignored that the Gen Max is yet another mod with two separate ways to lock the device and no way to lock the output power alone.
Pressing the fire button five times in quick succession will turn the mod on or off while moving the toggle switch underneath the fire button will lock the device—virtually the same thing as turning it off. This oversight is even more egregious when it comes to the Gen Max because, as mentioned, the dial system is more vulnerable to accidental changes to the power output compared to standard three-button mods.
The screen is very colorful and crystal clear. It displays the remaining battery life of each individual battery, the output power, the mode, whether the Gen Max is locked or not, atomizer resistance, and a puff counter or puff length. There’s also an animated graphic according to which theme is selected that changes once the device is fired. For example, when using the UFO theme, it blasts off once a drag is taken.
Three clicks of the fire button will enter into the menu. Once inside, themes can be changed to the user’s liking, but it’s not very customizable and, frankly, seemingly arbitrary. The three themes are default blue, a soccer theme (called “Football” within the menu) that’s orange and a UFO theme that’s purple. The user cannot choose colors and graphics independently, which means if someone wants an orange color scheme with a UFO graphic on the screen, they are out of luck.
What do soccer and UFOs have to do with vaping? No clue—it’s completely arbitrary, even random. There is a setting titled “LED,” which one would think changes the color of the curved LEDs lining the porthole, but all it does is allow those lights to be disabled. It’s a missed opportunity as the screen does look great and so much more could have been done creatively here.
The output modes are also strange. The Gen Max features four total modes: F(t) mode, which is the default; Pulse mode; Eco mode; and VV mode. VV mode is variable voltage—a little antiquated, but fine. Eco mode is the standard variable wattage mode that most people go for and also provides the longest battery life. Then there are F(t) mode and Pulse mode, which are virtually the same, for all intents and purposes.
In theory, these act like temperature control modes to prevent overheating and burning of the coil. To quote the user manual:
“F(t) mode is by adjusting temperature, heating speed and time. F(t) mode releases the flavors of e-liquid adequately, delivering the perfect balanced tasting experience consistently from the first puff throughout.”
“Pulse mode is a mode to improve vaping experience through constant voltage output, delivering optimal flavor production, throat hit, nicotine satisfaction and perfect temperature cloud continuously.”
[Sic]s all around.
There are a few ironic buzzwords throughout these descriptions, namely: “consistently,” “constant” and “continuously.” They’re ironic because in practice, they introduce the worst part of temperature control, which is when the power suddenly cuts out in order to prevent burning. It’s the same sensation as when the battery dies mid-puff—it’s jarring.
It’s also the opposite of “consistent” or “continuous.” At lower power output settings, these modes feel exactly the same as Eco mode. At higher settings, power cutoff starts being introduced. In addition, when set to F(t) mode or Pulse mode, there is no way to adjust the temperature, only the wattage, and based on the descriptions in the user manual, it’s unclear what these modes actually do.
In practice, the Gen Max is strictly a variable wattage device. F(t) and Pulse modes are too niche, and even with the user manual, it’s hard to find a situation where these modes would offer an advantage over Eco mode. VV mode is simply obsolete and inferior to variable wattage in most usage scenarios. It’s not the end of the world, as most users opt to use variable wattage on any given mod anyway—it’s just yet another missed opportunity.
One last setting that doesn’t quite find a purpose is Smart mode, which can be toggled on or off in the menu. When used with Vaporesso’s GTi coils, Smart mode will automatically set the “optimal” power output. However, this only happens at the moment an atomizer is attached. For example, with Smart mode activated and a 0.2 ohm coil installed with the iTank T, the Gen Max automatically sets itself to 70 watts when the tank is attached.
That’s it. The power can still be adjusted from there via the dial, just as it could with Smart mode turned off. It may be called “Smart,” but more goes into an optimal power output than just the resistance. Airflow and user preference are arguably much bigger factors and ones that the mod can’t account for. Again, another missed opportunity and added bloat to the menu system.
The Gen Max should have embraced either the simplicity mindset or added more useful features. Instead, it sits in the middle with a simple menu system that’s easy to use but with no settings that are really worth changing. The button/dial is unique and gives the Gen Max a reason to have a button this big, harkening back to the billet box design aesthetic. Unfortunately, with no way to lock the dial (but two ways to lock the device) and no way to adjust the power output until the screen is activated, it seems like a gimmick rather than a well-thought-out feature. And that pretty much sums up the Gen Max in its entirety.
There are a lot of good concepts that were never really fleshed out, almost like Vaporesso had too many chips and had to figure out a way to use them. The Gen Max could have had true temperature control as an option, power curves, more themes that could have been chosen independently of the color scheme, more color schemes, and a physical switch that locked the power output while still allowing the device to fire, and it would have been a home run.
Instead, we have a good-looking mod that appeals to nostalgia but ends up being just a run-of-the-mill variable wattage device. If that sounds harsh, it’s because there are so many mods that do try to push the envelope and offer something unique that when a mod that’s only OK comes around, it ends up standing out for all the wrong reasons.
The Vaporesso Gen Max is not a bad device by any means in the sense that it’s well made and it puts electricity through a coil, consistently, when the button is pressed, and that’s really what matters most. It also has a really nice screen and the start of a good idea with the graphic animations and porthole design. More customization would go a long way, possibly with a future firmware update. On the plus side, the mod and the tank together retail for about 60 dollars, which is very competitive.
Batteries are not included, and with a little more space optimization, the Gen Max could have been powered by 21700 batteries instead of 18650s, giving it another avenue of appeal. As it stands, the best things the Gen Max has going for it are that it’s reliable, affordable and simple, which are not bad things. With a little more refinement and thought put into the functionality, the next Gen Max could truly be something great.
A jury trial commenced last week for a lawsuit filed by the State of Alaska against Juul Labs, Inc. and Altria Group, Inc. The state alleges that these companies played a significant role in the rising use of e-cigarettes among young people.
In a press release dated November 24, 2020, former acting Attorney General Ed Sniffen stated that the state alleges Juul Labs employed marketing strategies similar to those used by large tobacco companies but updated for the digital age. This included youth-oriented social media campaigns and the use of paid influencers.
The suit further alleges that Altria then conspired with Juul Labs to maintain and expand the youth e-cigarette market JUUL had created, working to cover up Juul Labs’ youth marketing just as major tobacco companies tried to cover up their own youth-targeted marketing in the past, according to media reports.
“According to the 2019 Alaska Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 45.8% of Alaska high school students have tried e-cigarettes, with 26.1% reporting e-cigarette use,” the press release states. “This is a significant increase from 2017, when 15.7% of Alaska high school students reported using e-cigarettes. Alaska’s Complaint alleges that this dramatic rise is a direct result of the marketing strategies used by JUUL and Altria to target teenagers and youth.”
The state’s complaint alleges Juul Labs and Altria violated the law in four ways:
Creating a public nuisance under Alaska law;
Violating Alaska’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act in marketing and promoting e-cigarettes to youth;
Negligently developing, marketing, and selling JUUL vaping products;
Conspiring to maintain and grow a market based on sales to youth.
The lawsuit is seeking damages to fund public health efforts to address youth vaping as well as an abatement of what the state is calling a “public nuisance.”
Alaska is far from the only state to file a suit against the e-cigarette giants; in 2021, Juul Labs agreed to pay $40 million to North Carolina in the first state lawsuit settlement.
Ministers in the UK have been told that a plan to ban the sale of disposable vapes by next summer could lead to some users “reverting or relapsing” back to cigarette smoking.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said vape usage in England had grown by more than 400% between 2012 and 2023, with 9.1% of the public buying and using the products.
The legislation, which will be introduced to parliament this year, will ban the sale of single-use vapes in England to limit, among other things, the environmental damage they cause, media has reported.
However, an impact assessment by Defra revealed that “29% of current [people who vape] will either revert/relapse to smoking tobacco” as a result of the ban. Officials said, “If the ban is increasing the use of cigarettes, there could be health disbenefits.”
The report added: “We have assumed that most users of disposable vapes will switch to reusable vapes. However, there will be a proportion of users that may revert to smoking tobacco or quit vaping and smoking altogether.”
The legislation had been tabled under Rishi Sunak’s premiership, but the government ran out of time in the last parliament.
The tobacco and vapes bill would prevent anyone born from 2009 from legally smoking by gradually raising the age at which tobacco can be bought. It also aims to impose restrictions on the sale and marketing of vapes to children.
The health secretary, Wes Streeting, said this month he planned to introduce the bill “before Christmas”.
The Labour MP Mary Glindon criticized the chancellor’s tax increase on vape liquid during the budget debate, saying it could discourage people from quitting smoking.
Glindon, the MP for Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend, said the increase, to take place in October 2026, was “unsustainably high” and would “hurt working people” who used vapes.
Vietnam’s health ministry has proposed a national ban on e-cigarettes and tobacco-heating products, reports Vietnam News.
During a conference last week, Deputy Minister Tran Van Thuan stressed that all forms of tobacco, including new-generation products, pose a significant threat to public health.
Nguyen Nho Huy, deputy director of the physical education department at the Ministry of Education and Training, shared that vaping among students had risen from 2.6 percent in 2019 to 8 percent in 2023.
According to ministry of health data, nearly 1,224 people were hospitalized in 2023 due to health complications directly linked to e-cigarettes and heated tobacco.
Tran also referenced risks such as battery explosions and nicotine poisoning.
Heated tobacco, he noted, emits smoke containing toxins similar to those found in traditional cigarettes.
Participants in the event also expressed concern about the market for illicit vaping products. In the first half of 2024, authorities uncovered 35 cases of illegal trade and possession of drug-infused e-cigarettes, according to Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Duy Trung.
One year after Quebec banned non-tobacco flavored vapes, most vapers are buying such products illegally in the province, according to Imperial Tobacco Canada (ITCAN).
In a survey carried out by Leger, 61 percent of vapers said that they purchased non-tobacco flavored vapor products in the past 12 months. Forty percent of those respondents said that they purchased an illegal flavored vapor product from a vape shop, and 33 percent of those respondents said they purchased flavored vapor products online. Forty-seven percent of those respondents said they knew it was illegal when they purchased a flavored vapor product
“If the government’s objective was to create an untaxed and unregulated vapor market, then well done and mission accomplished,” said ITCAN Vice President of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs Eric Gagnon in a statement.
ITCAN attributed the problem in part to weak enforcement. “A report from the Ministère de la Santé et des Services Sociaux (MSSS) website reveals that only 150 (38 percent of all vape shops) have been inspected by MSSS,” the company wrote. “Worse yet, very few fines have been issued with reports showing only 28 of those 150 received fines, even though more than 90 percent are uncompliant.”
ITCAN urged the government to train inspectors, issue fines heavy enough to deter illegal players and conduct an “enforcement blitz” to demonstrate the gravity of the situation, among other suggestions.
The City of San Antonio, Texas, is banning the use of e-cigarettes, or vaping, where smoking is currently restricted. The revised ordinance will take effect on January 1, 2025, and will prohibit their use in all venues where smoking is currently restricted.
Businesses must include the electronic smoking device icon on signs prohibiting smoking. The icons for both cigarettes and e-cigarettes should be enclosed in the standard red circle with a red bar across them, media reports. They will be required for every public place and place of employment where smoking is currently prohibited.
“This update reflects our commitment as the community health strategist and ensures that policies remain relevant to current circumstances, adapt to technological changes, and mitigate potential risks,” said Dr. Claude A. Jacob, Metro Health director. “By reducing exposure to secondhand smoke and promoting smoke-free environments, we are taking significant steps to protect the health of our citizens.”
Altria Group beat market expectations for third-quarter revenue and profit on Thursday, as robust demand for its nicotine pouches and vaping products helped soften the blow to its combustible cigarettes category.
Altria’s NJOY vapes and on! nicotine pouches have seen steady demand in the United States, and its menthol-flavored NJOY vape products received authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for sale.
“Altria delivered outstanding results in the third quarter,” said Billy Gifford, Altria’s CEO. “The smokeable products segment delivered solid operating companies income growth behind the resilience of Marlboro, and in the oral tobacco products segment, our MST brands continued to drive profitability while on! maintained momentum in the marketplace. We also continued to reward shareholders through a growing dividend and share repurchases while making investments in pursuit of our vision.”
The company disclosed in July that it had provided data to the FDA regarding the growth of illegal nicotine pouches, which illustrated the early stages of a significant black market for vapes.
In the third quarter, domestic cigarette shipment volume in the smokeable products segment decreased by 8.6%. In contrast, NJOY devices saw a shipment volume increase of over 100% year-over-year, reaching 1.1 million units, according to a press release.
Shipment volume for on! nicotine pouches increased by 46% this quarter, while demand for the company’s chewing tobacco products, such as Copenhagen, continued to weaken.
Shares of the Marlboro maker increased by approximately 1% in premarket trading. They have grown by about 25% this year.
Altria’s third-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $1.38 topped market expectations of $1.35. The company maintained its annual profit forecast of between $5.07 and $5.15 per share.
Last week, peer Philip Morris lifted its annual profit target betting on strength in demand for its flagship IQOS heated tobacco device as well as ZYN nicotine pouches.
The cost of vaping and smoking will increase following tax rises announced in Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Budget. A new tax on vapes of £2.20 ($2.85) per 10ml of e-liquid will kick in from October 2026.
That will be accompanied by an equivalent increase of £2.20 per 100 cigarettes in tobacco duty to “maintain the financial incentive to switch from tobacco to vaping.” Reeves also set out immediate above-inflation increases of 2 percent on tobacco and 10 percent for hand-rolled tobacco.
In its last Budget before losing the election, the previous Conservative government said it wanted to introduce a vaping tax and set up a consultation on the changes. The consultation said the tax aimed to make vaping “less accessible to young people and non-smokers while also raising revenue for funding vital public services like the NHS.”
It had proposed different levels of tax based on the amount of nicotine in the vaping liquid, according to media reports. However, Reeves has instead opted for a flat rate. In its analysis of responses to the vaping consultation, the government said industry representatives and some public health bodies had opposed a three-tier structure, warning it could result in unintended consequences and create complex bureaucracy.
Head of the UK Vaping Industry Association, John Dunne, called the vape tax a “nonsensical move” that penalized people who used vapes as a method to give up smoking. “Some three million adults are former smokers thanks to vaping, which is strongly evidenced as the most effective way to quit conventional cigarettes, saving the NHS millions of pounds in treating patients with smoking-related conditions,” he said.
The new Labour government had already said it wanted to stop vapes being branded to appeal to children and has announced a ban on single-use vapes, due to come into effect in England in June 2025. Ministers have also pledged to continue plans set out by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to ban people born in or after 2009 from buying cigarettes.
Police in Canada said they have arrested six people involved in an organized crime group believed to have produced tens of thousands of counterfeit cannabis-laced candy bars and edibles resembling popular name-brand products.
The takedown began early this month, according to a statement from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on Tuesday. On Oct. 3, the Pacific Region Royal Canadian Mounted Police federal policing investigators executed search warrants at two dispensaries and five separate residences on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.
“These warrants were associated to an organized crime group allegedly involved in the production and distribution of illicit drugs, and contraband tobacco in Port Alberni and Nanaimo,” authorities said. “The dispensaries in question were Green Coast Dispensary in Port Alberni and Coastal Storm Dispensary located in Lantzville.”
Search warrants were also executed at a suspected stash site in Port Alberni, as well as a storage and production facility adjacent to Coastal Storm Dispensary, including two modular trailers where cannabis edibles were being produced, stored, and distributed, authorities stated in a press note.
Credit: CRMP
The list of items seized includes over 120,000 cannabis edibles with packaging resembling popular name-brand chocolate bars, potato chips, nacho chips, honey and other candies, including over 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) of psilocybin mushrooms, 1,740 psilocybin capsules, over 400 psilocybin chocolate, candies and a multitude of other psilocybin products, 2.2 pounds of pressed cannabis resin, over 500 pounds of cannabis bud, more than 19 pounds of shatter, over 5000 cannabis vape cartridges, counterfeit cannabis-laced honey, five vehicles, two ATM machines containing cash, an estimated 164 master cases of contraband tobacco equating to 82,000 packs of cigarettes, over $400,000 in cash and a shotgun, police said.
“Although the contraband cannabis-laced candy bars and chips resembled professionally manufactured, packaged, and quality-controlled products, they were discovered to have been produced in the highly unsanitary, and heavily contaminated modular trailers,” authorities from RCMP said. “A preliminary assessment of the edibles also indicates that they had been treated with unknown amounts of THC, and likely cross-contaminated with other drugs and substances present in the trailers where they were being produced and packaged.”
Of equal concern, according to police, was the fact that the counterfeit snacks had packaging claims of possessing medicinal properties and dangerously high drug potency values, with many of the candy wrap labels claiming to be “100 times more potent than regulated cannabis products.”
“Given the highly contaminated and unsanitary conditions of the illicit drug production facility where these cannabis edibles were being produced, it is possible that the consumption of these products can lead to serious health risks,” RCMP said. “We urge members of the public to practice extreme caution if they already possess, or come across such products in the future, especially with Halloween being just around the corner.”
