Provincial bid to put teeth in Argentina’s ineffective e-cig ban

Lawmakers in Argentina’s most populous province are expected to vote on a new bill that bans electronic cigarettes, in a move intended to reinforce a country-wide ban that has been largely ignored.

Congresswoman Alejandra Lordén, president of the Health Commission of the Chamber of Deputies of Buenos Aires Province, introduced in April a bill to ban the sale and use of all vaping devices. Her aim was to clamp down on the widespread informal and online sales in the 17m-strong province, which despite its name does not include the national capital, Buenos Aires.

No date has yet been set for the measure to be debated or voted on in the provincial congress in La Plata.