Dozens of people demonstrated this Tuesday in the Mexican Chamber of Deputies against the constitutional reform of the president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, which seeks to prohibit the use of electronic cigarettes either vapers.
“The intention is to inform legislators so that they put a stop to this initiative launched by the president to elevate to constitutional reform a prohibition that has been invalidated countless times in the Supreme Court,”
Luis Felipe Gamboa, coordinator of the Vaping Freedom Alliance, told EFE.
The dissidents, from organizations such as Pro Vapeo, the World Vapers Alliance and 'Yo Vapeo, Yo Voto', protested in favor of regularizing these electronic devices because, they asserted, they are an alternative to avoid tobacco.
We ask and demand a regulation where there is control of sales to minors, that they are not sold, and a quality control required by Cofepris (Federal Commission for the Protection Against Sanitary Risks) so that a minimum regulation is given, which give security to the consumer
express.
María Nieves García, a woman who smoked for 35 years of her life, said that during that time she tried different methods to quit smoking, from pills to hypnosis, but everything was in vain until using a vape pen.
“The transition from tobacco to vaping was very simple, and it was very simple for one fundamental reason: I got advice from the right people,” he emphasized.
García pointed out that the protest, more than defending vaping, seeks to protect the freedom of everyone to consume what “best suits them.”
One of the main reasons why I am here today, regardless of whether I vape, is because people's freedom must be respected. “The moment they prohibit it (freedom) will end, there will not be the possibility that they can advise you like they did with me,”
he asserted.
Prohibition is a failure
Alberto Gómez Fernández, a member of the World Vapers Alliance, pointed out that they also protested because the ban “is a complete failure.”
The only thing it achieves is that the products are sold on the black market, where they do not pass safety or quality controls, it criminalizes consumers, it criminalizes merchants and also makes organized crime groups take charge of marketing, posters”,
lament.
He defended that vapes are a tool for those who want to quit smoking.
According to Gómez Fernández, scientific studies ensure that vaping is 95% less harmful than smoking, in addition to public policies implemented in countries like the United Kingdom related to vaping devices are helping to combat smoking.
He insisted that the demand is regulation, that there be quality and safety controls on the devices, on the ingredients used and that allow adults to buy these products in a more accessible way.
The protesters carried blankets with legends such as “Vaping saved my life”, “I vote, I vape”, “Regulate vaping”, “Vaping is not tobacco”, among others.
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