NAACP to Host NYC Town Hall on Teens, Tobacco & Vaping

BROOKLYN, NY (10/21/2019) (readMedia)-- On Tuesday, the NAACP New York State Conference will host a town hall meeting in collaboration with SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University and major national health advocacy organizations on the threat of tobacco and electronic cigarette use among young people, and the need for action to address the growing crisis.

Flavors Hook Kids NYC -- a coalition of parents, children, advocates, city leaders, and more than 100 organizations, including the NAACP -- is demanding that the sale of all flavored tobacco products be restricted in New York, including menthol cigarettes and flavored e-cigarettes.

WHEN: Tuesday, October 22 at 6 PM

WHERE:

SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University

Alumni Auditorium

395 Lenox Road

Brooklyn, NY

WHO:

Dr. Hazel N. Dukes, President of the NAACP NYS Conference

Members of the NAACP

André M. Richardson, Campaign Manager of Flavors Hook Kids NYC

Mike Davoli, American Cancer Society

Deidre M. Sully, DIrector of NYC Smoke-Free Public Health Solutions

Dr. Robert Foronjy, Chief Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine at SUNY Downstate

Background

In the past few months, at least 450 people across the country were hospitalized for vaping-related illnesses and at least 26 people have died. In New York, the state Department of Health issued a warning about e-cigarette use, citing multiple cases of "severe pulmonary disease" among patients "who reported recent use of vape products." Governor Cuomo issued a temporary emergency regulation that would ban all flavored e-cigarettes, including menthol--but it was recently slowed down by a State Court.

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