What to Know
- New York City approved to ban flavored e-cigarettes
- The City Council voted Tuesday on the bill that would prohibit the sales of flavored e-smoking products, including mint
- The vote comes a week after a second person in New York state died due to vaping-associated illnesses
New York City has voted to ban all flavored e-cigarettes -- becoming the first major city in the country to approve such a ban after the City Council’s Health Committee unanimously supported the legislation.
The City Council voted Tuesday on the bill, introduced by Council Member and Health Committee Chair Mark Levine, that prohibits the sales of flavored electronic smoking products, including mint, menthol and wintergreen electronic cigarettes and e-liquids.
The ban passed 42-2.
"With this vote, the City Council is moving to ban the fruity, minty, candy-like flavors of e-cigarettes which were clearly designed to appeal to young people in the first place," Levine said in a statement on Monday.
The vote comes a week after a second person in New York died due to vaping-associated illnesses.
The Department of Health confirmed the latest death as that of a man in his 30s from Manhattan with a reported history of using e-cigarettes and vape products, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said last Wednesday.
Cuomo compared the latest vaping deaths to "Big Tobacco all over again."
Local
Ahead of the vote, a number of anti-vaping protesters held a rally at City Hall.
