When Prohibition Fails: Brazilian Prosecutors Push to End Vape Prohibition

Brazil’s Federal Public Ministry in the Federal Court of Uberlândia has just taken a bold step challenging the country’s decade-long e-cigarette prohibition failures, filing a civil action to force the federal government  to establish a regulated market for electronic cigarettes . The prosecutors make a critical - and obvious - point: the current  prohibition hasn’t stopped use or illicit trade; it has simply handed control of this market to criminal networks and left consumers exposed to unregulated, unsafe products.

This latest move echoes the evidence set out in PDNW’s report on the consequences of Brazil’s ban on e-cigarettes. Despite the law making all vaping products illegal, millions of Brazilians still vape, a thriving black market has emerged, teens continue to use illegal products at high rates, and adult smoking prevalence has risen in recent years. As detailed in our report, 8.7% of Brazilian teens aged 14–17 were regular vapers in 2023 – nearly one million underage users – compared to just 5.4% of adults, and faced with a lack of safer alternatives, adult smoking prevalence has increased from 9.3% in 2020 to 11.6% in 2024, while 110,000 Brazilians continue to die each year from smoking-related disease.

Prohibition doesn’t eliminate demand. It drives consumers underground where there is no quality control, no age verification, and no public health oversight. Instead of reducing harm, the ban has undermined Brazil’s historic gains in tobacco control, increased smokers’ exposure to the most dangerous form of nicotine use, and left policymakers with fewer tools to protect youth and adult health.

The MPF’s action aligns with PDNW’s message: it’s time to replace failed bans with evidence-based regulatory frameworks that set product standards, enforce age limits, and reduce black market harms — managing risk rather than ignoring it.

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