After discouraging sales of e-cigarettes in the country and banning their importation, Mexico has taken to their war on nicotine vaping to the next level by banning the sale of e-cigarettes in the country.
The President of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who was previously Mexico City’s Head of Government from 2000 to 2005, signed a decree in May of this year that outlaws the sale of e-cigarettes in Mexico.
Despite scientific evidence to the contrary, Assistant Health Secretary Hugo Lopez Gatell referred to claims that vaping is safer than smoking as “a big lie.”
Mexico, which had a population of 128.9 million in 2020, is home to millions of Mexicans who have tried vaping at least. According to official government figures, at least 5 million Mexicans have at one point taken a puff from a vaping device.
The Associated Press reports that many Mexicans continue to vape by either buying vaping products under the table or from online suppliers.
The decree was issued on May 31, which is “World No Tobacco Day.” The yearly celebration began in 1987 as a World Health Organization initiative aimed at drawing international attention to the tobacco epidemic and its resulting preventable death and disease.
In an article published on the National Law Review website, three partners at IP law firm Olivares wrote that the decree “seems to go against the declaration of unconstitutionality of article 16, section VI of the General Law for Tobacco Control supported by the Supreme Court of Justice last year.”
