MEXICO CITY, Dec 11 (Reuters) – Mexico’s Senate has passed legal reforms that could impose up to eight years in jail and fines of up to 226,000 pesos ($12,500) for the production or ‍sale of vapes and electronic cigarettes, a massive ramp-up of enforcement measures that critics call overly restrictive.

The changes to the General Health Law, ratified late Wednesday by pro-government senators after clearing the lower house on Tuesday, now await enactment by President Claudia Sheinbaum, who supports the legislation.

“There’s this idea that not smoking ‌tobacco or a cigarette can be replaced by ‌using a vape, and the truth is that vapes, in some cases, are even more harmful than cigarettes,” Sheinbaum said on Friday. “You shouldn’t smoke cigarettes, and you shouldn’t use vapes.”

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