Vape Import ban for Mexico ?

El Universal reports: “By presidential decree published in the Official Gazette of the Federation as of this Thursday, February 20, the importation of electronic cigarettes is prohibited in order to protect the Mexican population from heavy metals and other substances contained therein, as reported by the Secretariats of Health and Economy.”

It claims there has been an “increase in patients with lung lesions due to the use of electronic cigarettes that are used for the so-called ‘vaping’ or inhalation of nicotine or other chemical substances.”

The Mexican government states there has been "more than 200 documented cases of patients with severe lung injury, related to the use of electronic cigarettes, mostly teenagers and young adults.”

The government says the sale of vape products has been illegal in Mexico since 2008, odd considering vaping didn’t happen in the country then, and has added the importation ban “to prevent illegal trade practices of such products.”

The government has created all manner of acronyms to describe vaping:

• Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (SEAN)
• Electronic systems without nicotine (SSSN|)
• Alternative Nicotine Consumption Systems (SACN)

It claims vaping “may contain levels of toxic substances and carcinogenic compounds, sometimes higher than those of traditional tobacco cigarettes.”

The government says 938,000 Mexican teenagers have tried vaping, 160,000 vape regularly, and says it “represents the entrance door to addiction”.

It’s curious that the Mexican government is so keen to address fictitious vape problems given the genuine problems lying unsolved.

Mexico facts:

• The country averages 95 murders per day
• Homicides have been on the rise since 2014
• Four times as many people are killed in 2018 compared to 2007
• Extortion, money laundering, human trafficking, people smuggling and contract killings are rife
• 15119 metric tons of tobacco were produced in Mexico in 2014
• Over 35 billion cigarettes were consumed in Mexico In 2015
• 43,000 Mexicans die each year from smoking-related diseases
• 100,000 patients demand healthcare services each year to treat tobacco-related illnesses
• The Mexican tobacco market will be worth approximately £3.5 billion in 2022

Fingers can be pointed squarely at the major international tobacco companies for feeding the corrupt action. They dominate 99% of the Mexican market, with a Philip Morris International subsidiary holding a 66% market share, British American Tobacco with 26.3%, and Japan Tobacco with 7.4%.

Open Democracy refers to the Mexican tobacco market as a “corrupt system”, it comments: “While Mexican authorities pretend to be complying with the international treaty promoted by the World Health Organisation, very little has actually been done to meet two fundamental principles of the agreement: the reduction of tobacco consumption and exposure to smoke.”