Overview
Pro-Vapeo Mexico is a civil advocacy group that represents vaporizer/e-cigarette companies and consumers that argue for harm reduction over total bans.
Context
Mexico has some of the strictest anti-tobacco laws in the world. Cigarettes can be legally bought and possessed, but smoking is banned in all public places including outdoor patios and individual private rooms in hotels.
In 2008, the General Tobacco Law banned the production and distribution of any product that resembled a tobacco product, including vapes, though the Mexican Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that it was unconsitutional to ban vapes while traditional cigarettes were still legal. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) issued multiple decrees from 2020-2022 attempting to ban the importation and commercialization of any electronic nicotine prducts, though the Supreme Court pushed back again in 2021. Eventually, in 2024 under President Claudia Sheinbaum, the Mexican Congress approved a constitutional amendment that included a vaping ban, placing vapes into the same legal category as fentanyl. In 2026, Sheinbaum proposed criminal penalties to enforce the ban since vaping companies were still selling their products.
Organizations like Pro-Vapeo Mexico argues that this repeats the same mistakes that the United States made with its own Prohibition amendment on alcohol. Businesses that were willing to comply with regulations were replaced with organized crime that use violence and distribute products that can’t be monitored for safety.