Mexico is on the verge of becoming the only country in the world to include a vape ban in its constitution. As foolish as that sounds, such a move will make the future reversal of the ban a near-impossibility.
The bill, which bans the sale of vapes (but not use or possession), was overwhelmingly passed last week in the lower house of the federal congress, the Chamber of Deputies. The vote was 410-24.
The Mexican Senate is expected to ratify the constitutional change with a two-thirds majority vote this week. Amending the constitution also requires Mexico’s 32 state legislatures to pass it with a two-thirds majority.
Former President López Obrador’s weird vaping obsession
The vape ban was introduced by popular President (and leader of the majority Morena party) Andrés Manuel López Obrador before he left office earlier this year. His successor, Claudia Sheinbaum, was sworn in Oct. 1, and has vowed to pass her predecessor’s ongoing legislative projects, including the vaping law.
López Obrador, who had a bizarre obsession about vaping, had previously banned imports and sales of vapes with two presidential decrees. However, the decrees faced court challenges and could also be overturned in the future.
The constitutional ban, which amends the Mexican constitution’s Article 4 (the right to health), is a sturdier prohibition device. Amending the country’s constitution requires two-thirds votes by both houses of the federal Congress of the Union, and a two-thirds vote by each of Mexico’s 32 states. Reversing the ban, once it is enshrined in the constitution, would require opponents of the law to muster political majorities nearly as large as the supermajority Morena has now.
López Obrador introduced many constitutional changes before he left, and Morena members of the federal Congress and state legislatures have quickly passed them—including a law preventing the courts from reversing constitutional amendments, and a law turning the country’s courts (even the Supreme Court) from appointed into elected bodies. López Obrador essentially set the stage for his party to control the country with dictatorial powers.
Mexico’s drug cartels will gladly take control of the vape market
Though vapes are already illegal in Mexico, a robust black market exists, and nearly two million Mexicans vape. The government seems dedicated to pushing the vape market further into the arms of Mexico’s violent cartels—the mafia-like organized crime groups that control the drug trade, smuggling, and other criminal activities in many areas of the country.
The constitutional amendment will not ban cigarettes. About 16.5 million adults smoke in Mexico, according to The Tobacco Atlas—a smoking rate of 18 percent.
We will update this article after the Senate votes.
