Cuomo signs new law raising the legal age for
purchasing tobacco and e-cigarette products
BY BILL PARRY
Beginning Nov. 13 you will need to
be 21 to buy tobacco products in New
York state, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced
Monday.
The new law raises the minimum
sales age for tobacco and electronic cigarette
products from 18 to 21, building
on efforts to combat health threats.
To crack down on retailers selling
tobacco and vaping products to underage
you, State Police is partnering with
the Department of Health to conduct
undercover investigations across the
state under The Adolescent Tobacco
Use Prevention Act, which enlists underage
youth to attempt to buy tobacco
and e-cigarette products. Retailers
found selling tobacco and vaping products
to underage individuals after Nov.
13 will face criminal penalties in addition
to civil penalties.
“The goal of this law is simple — to
prevent cigarettes and vaping products
from getting into the hands of our
youth, creating an addiction to a deadly
habit,” Cuomo said. “We are taking
aggressive action to make sure the decades
of progress we’ve made to combat
The new law raises the minimum sales age for purchasing tobacco and electronic
cigarette products from 18 to 21. Photo via Getty Images
tobacco addiction is not undone by
a sharp rise in e-cigarette use among
younger New Yorkers.”
According to state Department of
Health data, nearly 40 percent of 12th
grade students and 27 percent of high
school students in New York are now
using e-cigarettes, and the increase is
largely driven by flavored e-liquids.
High school use in 2018 (27.4 percent)
is 160 percent higher than it
was in 2014 (10.5 percent). While New
York’s high school student smoking
rate dropped from 27.1 percent in 2000
to a record low of 4.3 percent in 2016,
aggressive marketing promoting flavored
e-cigarettes stands to turn that
trend.
“Tobacco use is harmful to New
Yorkers and leads to cancer, major
health problems, and death,” Senate
Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins
said. “Raising the age of purchase
to 21 will help ensure fewer children
start this deadly habit.”
According to the Surgeon General,
88 percent of adult smokers started using
tobacco before age 18 and 90 percent
of the people who purchase cigarettes
for minors are between the ages
of 18 and 20.
By raising the legal purchase age to
21, the new law will help prevent underage
children from obtaining tobacco
products from their friends, reducing
the likelihood young adults ever start
smoking and become addicted, and ultimately
save thousands of lives.
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail
at bparry@schnepsmedia.com or by
phone at (718) 260–4538.
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