City Council Set to Ban Flavored E-Cigarettes in NYC

New York City could become the first major city in the country to ban flavored e-cigarettes after the City Council’s Health Committee unanimously voted in support of the legislation.

The City Council is expected to vote Tuesday on the bill, introduced by Council Member and Health Committee Chair Mark Levine, that would prohibit the sales of flavored electronic smoking products, including mint, menthol and wintergreen electronic cigarettes and e-liquids.

The ban is expected to pass with 31 other City Council members already co-sponsoring it.

"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."

Photo Credit: AP

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