Want create site? Find Free WordPress Themes and plugins.

Health authorities in Mexico decided a bit ago that rules banning non-tobacco products that resemble tobacco products in brand, design, or even sound, apply to electronic cigarettes. These rules originally focused on keeping things like cigarette candies from further encouraging kids and teens to view smoking as cool and unharmful. It is also likely these rules were designed to combat sale of products which promote illegal drug use.

But electronic cigarettes weren’t a part of the discussion when these rules were made — nor was the concept of a cigarette-like quitting aid on anyone’s mind. Since electronic cigarettes came to market, Mexican authorities have decided that they violate the law and have been fast to denounce the products and claim they show no evidence of success as smoking cessation products. But like in so many other places, people are purchasing e-cigs to that very end regardless of what authorities say.

Just this month, two shops selling electronic cigarettes in Mexico’s capital were closed down and some 9,455 e-cig units (e-cigs and accessories) were seized by authorities. This is a major step up in action from the roughly 2,200 units seized over the previous two years combined. This may be an indication that the government is going to push harder against the products from now on.

You can read about the seizure here.

It’s no surprise Mexico’s leadership is gung-ho about fighting smoking — even to the point of being counterproductive. The smoking rate there is rather high. Roughly 37% of males in the country smoke. Health authorities there have gone out of their way to tell the public that there is no evidence that electronic cigarettes work to the end of cessation. They also raise warnings about “unknown” contents and harms.