Mexican Ban is Unconstitutional
Mexico's Supreme Court has declared the government’s ban on vaping to be unconstitutional and the verdict has been welcomed by the World Vapers' Alliance
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by Dave Cross
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Alberto Gómez Hernández, policy manager of the World Vapers' Alliance, commented: “We welcome the decision of the National Supreme Court of Justice. The decree violates the right to freedom of trade of the companies, but also the right to health and the free development of the personality of Mexican adults. Mexicans should be free to decide how they consume nicotine.”
The declaration of unconstitutionality was carried out in an amparo lawsuit - a type of lawsuit in Mexico through which a company can seek legal protection or permission not to abide by regulation that violates its rights.
The general ban will stay in place since the ruling applies only to that specific case and business, yet it shows that even Mexico's highest instance of justice agrees with its unconstitutionality.
On this, Gómez Hernández added: “Although the ruling does not establish jurisprudence, we hope that the government or the judiciary will reverse the ban soon. The ban has failed, it has aggravated the public health problem of smoking in Mexico and has created a huge black market controlled by mafias.”
Smoking causes more than 40,000 deaths a year in Mexico, where there are still almost 15 million smokers.
“Mexico needs to abandon the ban and adopt a strategy that includes the use of less harmful nicotine products as a smoking cessation tool. It should follow the example of Sweden, which is about to become the first smoke-free country, and the UK, which promotes the use of vapes to quit smoking,” Gómez Hernández concluded.
The World Vapers' Alliance says it is “an independent organisation that defends the rights of vapers worldwide and promotes evidence-based regulation. Our alliance is made up of vapers associations and individual vapers from around the world.”
Alberto Gómez Hernández is the policy manager of the World Vapers' Alliance. He is Spanish and currently based in Madrid. He holds a degree in Economics from the Carlos III University of Madrid and has worked for several non-profit organisations and think tanks in recent years. He is an experienced activist and passionate about tobacco harm reduction.
References:
- World Vapers' Alliance - www.worldvapersalliance.com
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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