However, the ban will have the challenge of being applied not only in large legally established convenience chains and smoke shops, but also in the irregular market found on the streets of Mexico City.
At the Tepito market, vapes and electronic cigarettes can be purchased from 35 pesos for 1,000 ‘puffs’ or vapes, while devices with up to 20,000 and 30,000 puffs are also offered for between 300 and 350 pesos; prices that go down if you buy wholesale.
In a tour carried out, stalls selling velapeadores were located on Manuel Doblado, González Ortega and República de Argentina streets, in the Historic Center. The offer also arrives in front of the Palacio de Bellas Artes and Alameda Central, since on Avenida Juárez there are street stalls that exclusively sell vapes and electronic cigarettes.
Disposable vapes and electronic cigarettes of Chinese origin, with mint, chocolate, strawberry, mango and passion fruit flavors, are some of those that can be easily purchased on the streets of the capital; The cheapest ones cost just half the price of a conventional pack of cigarettes.
In Plaza Izazaga 38, with 12 floors of various products – most of Chinese origin – it was found that the stores previously dedicated to the sale of vaping devices have recently been converted to cell phone cases and accessories stores, this after in the neighboring square, Izazaga 89, personnel from the Secretary of the Navy (Semar) and the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) Thousands of products of irregular origin will be seized and the authorities will announce its domain extinction.
The vaping controversy
The ban on vapes and electronic cigarettes has brought conflicting positions.
For Erick Antonio Ochoa, director of Salud Justa MX, the reform to prohibit the use of vapers was an urgent measure given the attraction they generate in young people seduced by technological devices, since they have a wide variety of colors, flavors and even some that have screen with games.
“Among girls, boys and adolescents, conventional cigarettes are no longer as attractive as these types of electronic devices can attract their attention; They see it much closer because they are used to other types of devices such as cell phones, smart watches,” he says.
“It is very easy to obtain them, you can not only obtain them in these large self-service chains but also online without many requirements. The two main tobacco companies in our country, Philip Morris and British American Tobacco, have offers on these devices,” he points out in an interview.
“It is a necessary reform in order to protect health and, above all, to protect against early initiation of its use.”
Erick Antonio Ochoa, director of Salud Justa MX.
On the contrary, Juan José Cirión Lee, from the organization México y el Mundo Vapeando (Mexvap) – which has presented protections for the rights of consumers of vapers and electronic cigarettes – sees the ban as a measure that only stigmatizes the consumers.
“Vaporizers are not a public health problem, but rather they are an opportunity to improve because they are clearly less harmful than conventional cigarettes.
“Under these conditions they are prohibited for everyone. “Adults used this as a tool to quit smoking, they will have to buy them on the black market,” says Cirión Lee.
