Council imposes ban on flavored tobacco products
The New York City Council has banned the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including little cigars.These little cigars look just like cigarettes, but, due to a tax loophole, cost considerably less. They also come in flavors such as raspberry, grape, cosmopolitan and ample-tini and are usually wrapped in vivid, multi-colored packaging designed to appeal to youth.
“We’ve seen the detrimental side effects of what smoking can do to a person, and dressing it up with fun flavors doesn’t make a habit like smoking any less dangerous,” declared Council Member Joel Rivera, chairman of the council’s Health Committee and the chief sponsor of the new legislation. “It is no secret that for years tobacco companies have been targeting our young people with this kind of product. This legislation is a major step forward in protecting kids and deterring them from starting a lethal habit.”
The bill passed 46 to one with no abstentions. The one dissenting vote was cast by Council Member Lewis Fidler who said that even though he was voting no, “I appreciate the motivations of those who support this bill.” He believes that rather than a ban on flavored tobacco products, the most effective way to stop youth from smoking is by raising taxes even further on all tobacco products.
Studies have shown that smoking remains the leading cause of preventable deaths in New York City. The tobacco industry also knows that almost 90 percent of smokers start before the age of 18. That is why big tobacco is using young women, hip-hop imagery and specialty products — such as flavored tobacco products — to portray smoking as cool in order to entice youth into a lifetime of tobacco addiction.
Council Member Letitia James pointed out that in Central Brooklyn and other communities like it, these brightly packaged flavored cigars are often marketed near the candy, right where they can best capture the attention of the youth. Most councilmembersof her colleagues in the council agreed. The prohibited flavors include chocolate, vanilla, honey, candy, cocoa, dessert, alcoholic beverage, herb and spice flavors. (Menthol, mint and wintergreen flavors are excluded from the ban.)
“A significant number of constituents that I have spoken with also believe that smoking cigars is less toxic and less addictive than cigarettes,” James added. “They are wrong. One cigar has as much tobacco as five cigarettes and contains more nicotine. That is why we, as adults, have to stand up and ban these products.”
The law will be enforced by the Department of Consumer Affairs and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and violators will be subject to fines of up to $2,000. Multiple violations will result in suspension of one’s tobacco license.
According to a 2009 Zogby poll, 77 percent of New Yorkers surveyed said they support a ban on candy, fruit and liquor flavored tobacco products. The legislation is also supported by the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Lung Association of New York, and Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, which all believe that big tobacco is looking for a new generation of smokers among teens to keep its business going.
By Donna Lamb
November 4, 2009
