E-cigarettes are getting an upgrade from their humble beginnings as an e-cigarette to the ubiquitous vaping device.
New York magazine reports that New York City is set to unveil a plan to ban the sale of e-cigs to minors.
In addition to banning sales to minors, the ban will also require that all new devices be “certified by the state as e-liquids.”
E-cigarettes, which use battery-powered heating elements to vaporize nicotine, have long been banned in many states, but the city’s move would apply to all new electronic cigarettes, as well as any refillable electronic cigarette that is not labeled as an inhaler.
New Yorkers, however, are not likely to be among those affected by the ban, which is expected to go into effect July 1.
“E-cigarettes were meant to be a safe alternative to smoking, but they are a gateway to smoking,” New York’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, said in a statement.
“It’s not fair that this product is being sold to kids who aren’t even supposed to be smoking, and that it’s being sold in dangerous places like school cafeterias and movie theaters.
We want New Yorkers to know this is unacceptable.”
New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman also announced plans to begin enforcing a new law that requires e-cig manufacturers to display warnings about the potential for e-juice to be inhaled and can contain chemicals like nicotine, formaldehyde and benzene.
In New York, there is currently no law requiring a child to be vaccinated against the deadly respiratory disease coronavirus.
However, the state does have a ban on the sale and possession of e.liquid-containing products in public places, which means that e-liquid will be banned in parks, shopping malls, movie theaters, restaurants and public transit.
