Mexican Warning
Dr Roberto Sussman has issued words of warning about a very worrying and ominous development on the prohibition of vapes in Mexico
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by Dave Cross
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Dr Roberto Sussman has issued words of warning about a very worrying and ominous development on the prohibition of vapes in Mexico. He says this situation is generally not known outside of Mexico; indeed, he adds, there is little awareness even in Mexico. The outgoing authoritarian populist Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, is attempting to harden the vape prohibition by giving it “constitutional rank”.
“As far as I am aware, there is no precedent in any western country where the constitution explicitly prohibits a commercial product,” says Dr Roberto Sussman.
“Basically, we are seeing the only case in the world where an all-powerful authoritarian ruler has such a death wish towards [vaping]. Andrés Manuel López Obrador today is as powerful in Mexico as Putin or Orban are in Russia and Hungary. Can you imagine the consequences for consumers in Russia if Putin had such a personal disgust towards vapes and Heated Tobacco Products?”
Dr Sussman says that Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s alliance of parties is very close to get the 2/3 parliamentary majority (in both houses of congress) to be able to amend the constitution.
“Last February he launched 20 law initiatives to be placed as articles of the constitution. One of these initiatives is a hardened prohibition on ENDS (placed together as fentanyl, as lethal substances). Two other initiatives are very questionable, as they would place the Supreme Court, the Electoral College and all autonomous entities completely under presidential control.
“It is especially worrying that his hand-picked successor (the newly elected president Claudia Sheinbaum taking office on October) has emphatically declared her support for the full package of constitutional amendments, including ENDS prohibition.
“In case [the vape] prohibition goes into the constitution the consequences can be dire, as it becomes then practically impossible to challenge legally any ban or ruling, even if it violates human rights.”
The marketing and promotion of vapes has always been banned in Mexico with authorities frequently turning a blind eye to activities. Vaping itself has remained legal.
“The former prohibition has been extended in Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s initiative and 5 previous presidential decrees. Now it aims to ‘sanction’ anybody professionally related in any way to the devices,” Dr Sussman continues.
“The main potential (but likely) damage of Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s policy is the possible removal or marginalisation of all ‘informal’ vendors who act illegally but are not criminals and self-regulate. This would remove the competition to criminal cartels, a clear signal that they can take over a market of close to 3 million consumers.”
Dr Roberto Sussman works at the Institute of Nuclear Sciences at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
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.
