Health authorities across Southeast Asia are confronting a sharp rise in vape devices laced with synthetic cannabinoids and other psychoactive substances, prompting calls in Malaysia for a total ban on all vaping products. Consultant paediatrician Amar Singh told Free Malaysia Today that a partial prohibition, modelled on Britain’s ban on disposable vapes, would be insufficient to protect young people, citing UK data showing 13 per cent of devices confiscated from English secondary schools contained the synthetic drug Spice. Malaysian health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad has said the growing number of drug-laced vape seizures strengthens the case for tougher enforcement, while the Malaysian Vape Chamber of Commerce notes the industry’s retail value reached RM3.48 billion in 2023. In neighbouring Indonesia, the national narcotics agency and customs officials recently intercepted 3.37 tonnes of cannabis smuggled from Thailand, which investigators suspect was destined to be processed into vape liquid targeting young users.

A separate drug prosecution in Malaysia has highlighted due-process tensions after a Singaporean man and his two sons were acquitted of trafficking 315.3 grammes of cannabis and cultivating eight plants. The High Court in Kajang ruled the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case, with the defence arguing the men had no custody or control of the rented premises where the drugs were found and that a third party had access. Following their acquittal, the three were immediately detained by the Immigration Department, and the prosecution is expected to appeal. The case illustrates the legal complexities that arise when foreign nationals are caught in Malaysia’s strict drug laws, which carry the death penalty for trafficking.

In Hong Kong, survivors of long-term child sexual abuse and advocacy groups are urging the government to create a new offence of persistent child sexual abuse, arguing that existing laws allow prosecutors to “cherry-pick” individual incidents and fail to capture the full pattern of offending. The Security Bureau is preparing to launch a public consultation on reforming sexual offence legislation that has remained largely unchanged since the 1950s. Meanwhile, in Australia’s New South Wales, a recent custodial inspection report and data from the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research show that 80 per cent of young people in detention are on remand awaiting trial, with an average stay of just 13 days. Experts in Sydney question whether short-term punitive detention can reduce youth crime, as the state government injects a record A$138 million into infrastructure and adds 85 beds, even as other jurisdictions move to close youth detention centres.

Viewed from regional capitals, these developments reflect a broader struggle to align legal instruments with rapidly shifting public health and criminal justice challenges. In Kuala Lumpur, the debate over a total vape ban pits public health advocates against an industry that generated RM288.45 million in tax revenue from 2021 to mid-2025. Hong Kong’s consultation on sexual offence reforms is expected to begin later this year, while in NSW the funding rollout for youth detention upgrades continues amid scrutiny from the Inspector of Custodial Services. The Malaysian prosecution’s appeal in the cannabis acquittal case has yet to be filed, leaving the three Singaporeans in immigration limbo.