New York banned all flavored electronic cigarettes in the state on Tuesday except for tobacco and menthol flavors, Gov. Andrew Cuomo confirmed in a statement.
The big picture: New York is the second state, after Michigan, to ban flavored e-cigarettes. The Food and Drug Administration announced this month that it is finalizing plans to pull all flavored e-cigarette cartridges from the market. New York retailers will have a 2 week grace period before the ban is enforced in full on Oct. 7.
- 7 people have died from a lung-related illness linked to vaping as of Sept. 17. Several of those fatal cases "involved a middle-aged or older person," per the Washington Post.
- Vaping "is getting young people addicted to nicotine," Cuomo said on Sunday as he outlined plans for the state to ban flavored e-cigarettes.
Context: Juul, one of the most popular e-cigarette brands, stopped selling flavored cartridges in retail stores that do not ask for age verification in 2018. The company still sells several flavors online and in smoke shops.
What they're saying: Cuomo said on Sunday, "The only situation, in my mind, factually, that justifies vaping is if you had a person who said 'I currently smoke and I have tried every other device to stop smoking. I've tried everything. Nothing has worked, except vaping.' That is the only situation that logically justifies vaping."
- A Juul spokesperson told Axios this month, in response to the Trump administration's push to crack own on flavored e-cigarettes that the company strongly agreed with the need for aggressive category-wide action on flavored products.
Go deeper: Nicotine addictions increasingly driving vape users back to cigarettes
