The Mexican Parliament on Wednesday passed a law criminalizing the sale of electronic cigarettes and related products, with penalties of up to eight years in prison.
President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Morena party said it wanted to protect the health of young people and close legal loopholes that have allowed these products to be promoted as safe for health.
With this reform, "electronic cigarettes and other similar systems or devices" are banned, said Senate President Laura Itzel Castillo.
The number of users of these devices was estimated by an official survey carried out in 2023 at 2.1 million people out of some 132 million inhabitants.
Several countries, particularly in Latin America, have banned the sale of electronic cigarettes, but few, like Mexico, have introduced prison sentences.
Opposition members of parliament deemed the law "ambiguous" and said they feared abuses by the authorities.
Adopted by both houses of Parliament, the law will be applicable after formal promulgation by Ms. Sheinbaum.
In early October, the World Health Organization (WHO) expressed concern about the "alarming" wave of nicotine addiction caused by electronic cigarettes among young people, with at least 15 million children aged 13 to 15 worldwide now using them.
Electronic cigarettes are also often accused of being a vehicle for the consumption of synthetic drugs.
In Singapore, which has some of the strictest legislation in the world, importing electronic cigarettes is punishable by 20 years in prison and reselling by 10 years.
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