A bill imposing fines of up to eight years in prison for selling electronic cigarettes and related items was finally approved by Mexico’s Congress on Wednesday.
Mexico is about to become one of a few nations with laws that criminalize vaping.
The proposal, according to members of President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Morena party, would address legal loopholes that have allowed the gadgets to be marketed as safe and safeguard youth health.
Opponents of the bill claim its ambiguity could lead to abuses by authorities.
With this reform, “electronic cigarettes and other similar systems or devices” are prohibited, said Senate President Laura Itzel Castillo.
Mexico’s Senate approved the legislation on a 67-37 vote Wednesday, a day after it passed through the country’s lower chamber of Congress. It now goes to Sheinbaum’s desk to be signed into law.
An official smoking census conducted in 2023 estimated that 2.1 million of Mexico’s 132 million inhabitants were vapers.
*
Email *
Website
