President calls for total vape ban if proven gateway to narcotics

President Prabowo Subianto has requested that a total ban on electronic cigarettes or vapes be implemented if joint studies show that vapes carry more risks and continue to be used as a gateway for new types of narcotics. “If that is the case, I order you not to hesitate to implement a total ban on vapes in Indonesia,” said Prabowo, through a speech read by Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Djamari Chaniago, at the 2026 International Anti-Narcotics Day commemoration in Bogor Regency, West Java, on Thursday. Prabowo stressed that the safety of the people is the highest law in the country, commonly expressed by the phrase salus populi suprema lex esto. He said this step must be taken to strictly reformulate and reorganise the commercial governance of electronic cigarettes in Indonesia. “Carry out multi-layered supervision of their import and distribution channels,” he said. Regarding narcotics prevention, Prabowo revealed that Indonesia’s challenges are becoming increasingly severe because the development of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) is occurring very rapidly, unconventionally, and often emerging faster than the ability of regulations to govern them. Various studies, he continued, also show that around 39.5 per cent of electronic cigarette device users admit to having used liquids containing recreational drugs, with cannabis being the most widely used substance, followed by ecstasy (MDMA) and cocaine. Prabowo explained that these various factors indicate that electronic cigarettes have evolved into a new medium exploited by narcotics syndicates to distribute illegal substances covertly. Therefore, anticipatory steps are needed through strengthening regulations, increasing supervision, and conducting comprehensive policy studies to protect the public, especially the younger generation, from the threat of narcotics abuse. He stressed that if this threat is left unchecked, it will endanger the sustainability and continuity of human life, threaten future generations, and jeopardise the successor movement of the Indonesian nation. “We must not allow our future to be destroyed by that toxic smoke and liquid,” Prabowo added.