It’s a little more nuanced than that: they don’t sell it in-country, but you are allowed to bring it in and even chew it. The issue is, there are specific penalties (not sure about the details, since I only chew gum on airplanes, so it wasn’t a need-to-know situation) if you litter with it.
I have friends who live there, and I can highly recommend visiting. Living there enjoyably, however, would require one to be fond of authority and economically privileged.
