Coalition to Stop Flavored Tobacco Celebrates Flavored E-cigarette Ban, Calls for Vote on Menthol

NEW YORK, NY (12/16/2019) (readMedia)-- Mayor de Blasio signed NYC Council Intro. 1362 today, which will ban the sale of flavored e-cigarettes starting in July 2020. In response, Andre M. Richardson, Campaign Manager for Flavors Hook Kids NYC, issued the following statement:

"Today New York City made history, striking a blow in the fight to protect kids from Big Tobacco by officially banning all flavored e-cigarettes. The Mayor and the City Council who supported our cause from the beginning deserve praise for their efforts on behalf of kids," said André M. Richardson, Campaign Manager of Flavors Hook Kids NYC. "However, some of the most dangerous flavored tobacco products are still hooking our kids in New York. In order to fully protect children and communities of color from flavored tobacco products we must also restrict the sale of menthol cigarettes - which have been shown to be more addictive than regular cigarettes and have been targeted at children in black and brown communities for far too long."

Intro. 1345, which would restrict the sale of menthol cigarettes, currently awaits action in the New York City Council's health committee. The legislation has 37 co-sponsors--more than two-thirds of Council Members.

Big Tobacco has aggressively marketed flavored tobacco products to underage users for decades to hook new generations of smokers-particularly in communities of color, where menthol cigarettes are sold to young people, creating disproportionately negative health outcomes for African Americans.

In addition to the local and national organizations now supporting both Intro. 1345 and Intro. 1362, city leaders such as former Mayor David Dinkins, NAACP New York Chapter President Hazel Dukes, NYC First Lady Chirlane McCray and Rep. Gregory Meeks also back the menthol bill. The de Blasio Administration supports both pieces of legislation.

Members of the Flavors Hook Kids NYC coalition include: Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, NY NAACP, Parents Against Vaping e-cigarettes (PAVe), African American Clergy and Elected Official organization (AACEO), American Cancer Society Action Network (ACS CAN), New York Communities for Change, American Cancer Society Action Network, the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council NAATPN, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, Neighbors in Action, Last Call Church, United Concerned Citizens, NYPIRG, Bishop Courtenay of Emmanuel Church of God in Brooklyn, Arthur Ashe Institute Public Health, among others.

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