On January 15th, 2023, Mexico enacted a total ban on smoking in public areas alongside a ban on tobacco advertising, amounting to one of the strictest anti-smoking laws in the world. The latest law also places a total ban on displaying cigarettes and tobacco products inside shops or other points of sale. The ban was first approved of in 2021, and extends Mexico's existing 2008 law banning smoking in restaurants and workplaces to all public spaces including parks and bars. Hotels that previously offered smoking rooms have been ordered to stop offering the rooms. Effectively, this means for most smokers that smoking may only be done in homes or other private residences. 

While the Pan American Health Organization praised the Mexican government for launching the ban, some people are questioning the enforceability of the new regulations and say that the law should have been enforced in smaller steps instead. Others argue that because police corruption in Mexico is not uncommon, rather than issuing fines for public smoking, some police officers may consider using the ban as a method of taking bribes. According to some local Mexican media outlets, some stores that sell tobacco say that the sudden ban on displaying their products could severely affect their businesses. 

The Pan American Health Organization says that currently, about 10% of all deaths in Mexico accounting for nearly 63,000 deaths are related to either the direct use of tobacco products of exposure to second-hand smoke. According to the Mexico Global Adult Tobacco Survey of 2015, roughly 16% of adults in Mexico are tobacco smokers.

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