Vape Disguised As Pen Fuels Public Fears in Malaysia

Nicotine vapes have been widespread globally. Although it has helped millions of people quit smoking, concern over underage use of nicotine grows drastically. A viral Thread exposed a vape designed to look like a marker pen this September, and it fuels public fears in Malaysia.

1. What Do We Know About Vape Disguised As Marker Pen?

The viral Thread was created by @Abcdefghijaz_ on September 22, 2026, and removed afterwards. The thread was originally in Malaysia, and the English version is: “They even look like marker pens now… Discipline teachers have their work cut out for them. They really need to keep up with the latest trends.” On October 15, this user reposted the same content.

This vape pen shown in the picture features an identical appearance to an Artline 100 Permanent Marker but with an obvious tell: the arrow-shaped mouthpiece with visible liquid inside. For people who don’t use e-cigarettes, it will be difficult to identify such a vape. But are vapes disguised as stationery by default? Or do manufacturers produce vapes resembling school items?

2. What Do Vape Disguises Look Like?

From the article, we can see that there are more disguises for vape pens. There are stickers that imitate familiar packaging, such as UHU glue, Stabilo highlighters, and even KitKat wrappers. These “vape skins” disguise vapes as everyday stationery and snacks so that parents and teachers can’t identify them easily.

3. Who Makes A Vape Look Like A Pen?

Irresponsible vape retailers offer vapes to underage people, or children get vapes through proxy purchasing from adults. Kids then bring vapes to school because of peer pressure or want to “show off”. Anyway, they need to hide vapes. Camouflage as a highlighter or marker pen works perfectly. However, the vape manufacturers don’t do this directly.

With the assistance of Google image reverse search, I can find a possible target. The vape pen could be the Nanostic NX V3. This product doesn’t come with a highlighter or other camouflage sticker by default. So, who provides camouflaged vapes?

An earlier article by Malay Mail in 2024 revealed that camouflage stickers for vapes are available on multiple online marketplaces, such as Shopee Malaysia and Lazada Malaysia. These stickers are not age-restricted as they can be attached to anything. Children in Malaysia are targeted by these merchants, who provide stickers for them to disguise vapes as school items. It might be fun for adults to make pranks or unfunny jokes by vaping their marker pen, but it also helps children hide vapes from adults.

4. Does Malaysia Ban Vapes?

As of October 2026, there is no nationwide vape ban. However, Malaysian MPs expressly supported and proposed a nicotine vape ban in Malaysia, starting with open-system vapes.

Despite a universal ban on vapes, more and more restrictions have been implemented in Malaysia since 2025. Here is the timeline.

6. Why Are Parents Worried About Disguised Vapes?

In the past, vapes used to have similar designs and looks, which were easier for parents and teachers to notice. Right now, the camouflaged vapes share the same look as a highlighter pen, a fidget spinner, or a tiny box. Such inconspicuous objects can be neglected, and children can develop nicotine addiction little by little without intervention or proper treatment.

Nicotine is particularly harmful to children and teenagers as their brains are still developing. CDC warns that e-cigarette use can harm the parts of an adolescent’s brain that control attention, learning, mood, and impulse control. Brain fog is one of the symptoms that prevents teenagers from concentrating and learning.

7. What Is More Dangerous than Nicotine Vapes for Kids in Malaysia?

Nicotine vapes pose challenges to parents and educators in protecting the youth. What about other addictive substances? Another substance that deserves our attention is marijuana, which can be vaped like nicotine.

Malaysia could be the first Asian country to consider a vape ban because open systems can be used with synthetic drugs. Vaporizers are specific vape devices designed for dangerous drugs, such as marijuana and other hallucinogenic substances. Underage nicotine use is harmful, and it will be worse if cannabis and other substances are neglected, as the devices for these are more concealing and deceptive.

Although marijuana use is prohibited in Malaysia, we can still see these vaporizers in the US market for marijuana rebranded as herbal vaporizers. Some of them resemble highlighter pens and keychains more than any nicotine vape. When will these be noticed and regulated?

8. Don’t Overreact to Vape-like Items

If you are busy parenting, the fear of children vaping secretly is reasonable but doesn’t require you to suspect everything. Teenagers and kids are fond of novel gadgets, and sometimes we can’t figure out what it is. Also, accusing your kids of vaping does no good.

In one article in Rakyat Post, a thread was embedded with a picture showing a tiny gadget held in the hand with a glowing screen. However, this is not a vape. If you search the keyword “Oxitech“, you can easily find out that it is a pulse oximeter, which measures oxygen saturation level (SPO2) and pulse rate.

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9. Summary

Underage vaping has become a serious problem around the world. Vaping, as an alternative to smoking, was invented to reduce the harm of tobacco but turns out to be a culprit in teenagers’ health. However, a vape ban does nothing but gives rise to black markets. Malaysia has an age restriction on vape sales and use, but it seems insufficient. Joint efforts are required from the lawmakers, schools, and parents to keep children from nicotine products.

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