A huge country is set to introduce a ban on vaping. The Mexican legislature has approved a bill to prohibit the commercialisation, manufacture, import, export, distribution, and sale of e-cigarettes, vapes, and similar devices.
It has been approved for the sake of public health, specifically that of young people. Anyone caught breaking the law will see prison sentences of between one and eight years as well as fines of up to £9,380. Legislators added a final paragraph clarifying that users carrying up to two e-cigarettes or vapes will be free from prosecution. It now awaits enactment by the president, Claudia Sheinbaum, who supports the bill. She said: “There’s this idea that not smoking tobacco or a cigarette can be replaced by using a vape, and the truth is that vapes, in some cases, are even more harmful than cigarettes. You shouldn’t smoke cigarettes, and you shouldn’t use vapes.” Residents also seem in favour of the ban. A Mexico City resident, Valentina, said: “It would be good if they banned them because people like me keep buying them, and the truth is, they’re very cheap everywhere.”
The president said that the government will work with state authorities to limit illegal markets emerging, noting concerns about the involvement of organised crime.
Citizens’ Movement (MC) party deputy Iraís Reyes hit back against the ban, saying: “Not regulating a product that people already consume equals more black market and more money for drug traffickers, who this December, thanks to Morena, will receive their Christmas bonus.”
She added that legislators who approve the bill are “hypocrites”, saying: “You vape. We’ve seen you. I don’t know how you can come here and propose a ban when you’re vaping users yourselves.”
Opposition Senator Luis Colosio said the government was avoiding the responsibility of regulating and monitoring the industry by outright banning vapes, saying: “Prohibitions are nothing more than an easy way out of a problem they either don’t want to or can’t control.”
Vapes and e-cigarettes are already banned in Argentina and Brazil. Brazil reinforced their vape ban in 2024 so that all products are illegal, even for personal use. Argentina has had a ban on e-cigarettes since 2011.
Since July of this year, single-use vapes have been banned in the UK. Nearly five million disposable vapes were being thrown away weekly in 2023.
