Mexico City – Within the framework of World No Tobacco Day on May 31, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador signed an official decree banning the “circulation and marketing” of vapers and electronic cigarettes.
Hugo López-Gatell, Undersecretary for Prevention and Health Promotion, explained that the decision was made because tobacco harms health in all its presentations and doses.
In addition to the prohibition of vapers in all their presentations, the decree emphasizes the prohibition of the sale of “solutions and mixtures used in said systems” of electronic cigarettes.
A few weeks ago, the Senate approved the General Import and Export Tax Law, which prohibited these products from being legally imported and, before that, consumer protection and other laws had been used to discourage sales.
These decisions were adopted after the Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks (Cofepris) declared a maximum alert for the health risks that all forms of alternative products to tobacco represent.
One of the reasons that was given to ban any type of vaporizer device, whether it is products with or without nicotine, is that various flavorings are used to “hook children and adolescents who will later become cigarette smokers or consumers of other drugs,” as stated by Senator Lilia Valdez before the law’s approval.
The government’s own figures estimate that at least 5 million Mexicans between the ages of 12 and 65 have tried vaping at least once.
With this new regulation, Mexico joins other countries in the region, such as Brazil, Panama and Chile, that have either banned or imposed limitations on the sale, advertising and consumption of electronic cigarettes.
Sources: El Financiero • Expansión Politica