Mexico’s Senate has passed legal reforms that could impose up to eight years in prison and fines of up to 226,000 pesos ($12,500) for the production or sale of vapes and electronic cigarettes, a massive ramping up of enforcement measures that critics call overly restrictive.
The changes to the general health law, which were ratified late Wednesday by pro-government senators after clearing the lower house on Tuesday, now await the approval of President Claudia Sheinbaum, who supports the legislation.
“There’s this idea that not smoking tobacco or a cigarette can be replaced by using a vape, and the truth is that in some cases, vapes are even more harmful than cigarettes,” Sheinbaum said Friday. “You shouldn’t smoke cigarettes and you shouldn’t use vapes.”
Following the rise of anti-tobacco measures worldwide, Mexico banned smoking in most public spaces about two decades ago. In recent years, the government has turned its attention to curbing the sale of vapes and electronic cigarettes, which are also banned in Argentina and Brazil due to growing concerns about the health effects.
Mexico has not banned the actual use of vapes.
Sheinbaum said the government is working with state authorities to curb potential illegal markets for these products and noted concerns about the involvement of organized crime. She did not discuss when the new rules would take effect.
Opposition senator Luis Colosio criticized the reforms, calling them “forbidden”. During the debate on Thursday, he said the government was shirking its responsibility to regulate and monitor the industry by opting instead for an outright ban.
“Prohibition is nothing more than an easy way out of a problem they either don’t want to or can’t control,” Colosio said.
Despite the measures, vapes and e-cigarettes remain readily available in Mexico City’s retail stores, and authorities have yet to outline plans to deal with street-level sales.
“It would be good if they banned them because people like me keep buying them and the truth is they are very cheap everywhere,” a Mexico City resident identified as Valentina told the TV station. Millennium TV.
