Reform projects open the door to the sale of heated tobacco vapes
▲The ban on electronic cigarettes was established in 2024.Ap Photo
Angeles Cruz Martínez
La Jornada Newspaper
Friday, October 10, 2025, p. 7
Since February 2024, the Constitution prohibits the production, import and sale of electronic cigarettes, which includes vapers, heated tobacco devices and any other nicotine delivery devices, but in the initiative to reform the General Health Law, sent by the Executive to the Congress of the Union a couple of weeks ago, the door is opened for the sale of the latter, as it states that the prohibition is only for products that do not contain tobacco. academics and civil organizations warned.
Maximiliano Cárdenas, lawyer for the Salud Justa Mx organization, explained that in the proposal to reform the law on the special tax on production and services (IEPS) there is also a contradiction, because in addition to applying the tax to cigarettes and cigars, it includes “other products with natural or synthetic nicotine.”
He explained that this has no reason to exist because those “other products” are heated tobacco devices and even nicotine bags that have been sold in Mexico since last year without any type of regulatory control.
Rogelio Pérez Padilla, emeritus researcher at the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases (INER), said that nicotine bags have been on the market for a short time, but it has been known for years that this substance is highly toxic and addictive.
As with vapes and heated tobacco, the tobacco industry promotes nicotine pouches as smoking cessation aids. However, he asserted that there is no evidence of this. Users are more likely to stick with conventional cigarettes, nicotine pouches and heated tobacco devices interchangeably, he said.
The expert drew attention to nicotine bags, for which there is a lack of specific information about their content, but since they are a synthetic product, it is inferred that they may have a higher amount of the substance and additional contaminants.
Luz Myriam Reynales, researcher at the National Institute of Public Health, warned about the risk of nicotine bags, especially for adolescents who have not had previous contact with this substance and can become addicted in a short time.
He referred to research according to which the product alters the microbiome of the mouth due to the appearance of bacteria, which cause inflammation of the gums, cavities and loss of teeth. In addition, he said, the substances it contains increase the risk of cancer precursor lesions in the esophagus, colon, liver, kidneys and bladder, among others.
