Mexico bans  vapers and electronic cigs   

Mexico banned the use of vapers and electronic cigarettes on Tuesday through a decree signed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

“It is a lie that the new products, the vapers, are an alternative to cigarettes. (…) There is propaganda that indicates that what is harmful is burning tobacco, and smoke, but that is false. The fumes are also harmful to health,” the leftist president said in his morning press conference.

Vapers work by heating a liquid cartridge containing aerosolized nicotine and other toxins. Users inhale the resulting vapor mimicking the consumption of conventional cigarettes.

Mexico had already prohibited the import and export of vapers, electronic cigarettes, and their cartridges last October, but the companies have continued to market the products they had in reserve, the Undersecretary of Health, Hugo López-Gatell, said during the presentation of the decree.

In Congress, the discussion of an initiative to expand the places where smoking is prohibited, including beaches, stadiums, and open-air entertainment centers, is also anticipated.

Mexico launched two alerts, in 2021 and this year, about the risks of the new forms of tobacco consumption.