In 2022, Mexico’s politicians banned vaping products, hailing it as a public health victory. In practice, it did the opposite — pushing millions into an unregulated black market now controlled by powerful cartels. By outlawing a less harmful alternative to traditional cigarettes, the government handed criminals a new revenue stream and empowered corrupt police to extort citizens. Worse still, Mexico’s consumers are now inhaling liquids of unknown origin, erasing the health gains seen globally when smokers switch to safer alternatives.
Vaping has become big business for Mexico’s criminal networks. According to a new report by Mexico-based NGO Defensorxs, the black market for illicit nicotine products has quadrupled in just two years, exploding from 5 billion to 20 billion pesos a year. Cartels such as CJNG and the Sinaloa Cartel are among the chief beneficiaries, folding this new revenue stream into the same sophisticated logistics chains they use to traffic drugs, weapons, and migrants.
This has become more than a public-health issue — it has become a matter of national security. Several of these cartels have been identified by the White House for potential designation as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, underscoring the severity with which U.S. officials view their expanding reach. Allowing Mexico’s vaping ban to funnel new revenue into these groups risks strengthening organizations that already operate at a level comparable to insurgent networks in other parts of the world. In short, the vaping ban has morphed into a policy that actively facilitates all manner of crime within America’s borders, and in our hemisphere.
Mexico’s vaping ban endangers the public by overly criminalizing ordinary behavior. Vaping products are widely sought, largely by consumers looking for a safer alternative to combustible cigarettes. Yet with steep financial penalties for simple possession — and even the possibility of jail time depending on quantity — Mexicans currently face heightened risks of extortion from corrupt law enforcement officials.
Putting aside the obvious impacts of prohibition on corruption and organized crime, the public health benefits touted by politicians are further undermined by the source of these products. Much of Mexico’s illicit vaping supply is made up of untested, unregulated imports from Asia, leaving consumers with vapes that may contain a toxic mix of chemicals absent in countries with legal markets. The tragedy is that in seeking safer alternatives to cigarettes, many are instead exposing themselves to unknown harms.
When weighing the unintended consequences of Mexico’s vaping ban, it seems prudent for government officials to consider a change of course. In Europe and the United States, policymakers are increasingly taking a different path — permitting the sale of alternative nicotine products, including pouches and vapes, to encourage smokers to abandon traditional cigarettes. These products are often taxed at lower rates to further incentivize individuals to switch to less harmful alternatives. Their growing adoption has coincided with a dramatic decline in adult cigarette smoking in the United States, and government data further reveals the policy’s success, showing youth tobacco use at a 25-year low.
It is irresponsible to stoke fears that enabling such a market would hook more of Mexico’s youth on cigarettes, given current trends. The reality is that despite the ban, vaping products remain on the streets of Mexico’s cities. The only difference is that there is no control over what’s in them, who they are sold to, or which illegal enterprises profit from their sales. And with U.S. policymakers weighing terrorism-related designations and sanctions for cartels, Mexico’s continued enrichment of these groups through prohibition becomes even more indefensible. While keeping nicotine products out of minors’ hands is a laudable goal, Mexico’s approach simply isn’t the answer.
Mexico’s vaping ban doesn’t protect the public – just cartel profits.
