Rural and Regional Development Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob today zipped his lips on the Johor vape ban, despite earlier vocally supporting the growing trend.

"No comment," he told reporters at Sunway Putra Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

"Let the Health Ministry (comment), or else I would be crossing over into other ministry's jurisdiction," he said.

Ismail Sabri before this spoke up against Health Ministry raids on vape shops where vape juices laced with nicotine were seized.

He has defended the industry made up mostly of bumiputera enterprenuers, and is lauded by industry players as their "hero" .

Johor's Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar recently decreed that vape products are banned in the state and that all vape shops are to shut down by Jan 1.

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