New Tobacco And E-Cigarette Age Law Set To Go Into Effect

A new law going on the books will raise the minimum age requirement for sales of tobacco and electronic cigarette products in New York. The law, signed by Governor Cuomo in July, will require New York residents to be 21 years old to purchase these products. Set to go into effect on November 13th, the law is part of Cuomo's ongoing efforts to combat health threats.

Governor Cuomo had this to say about the new initiative, '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. We are taking aggressive action to make sure the decades of progress we've made to combat tobacco addiction are not undone by a sharp rise in e-cigarette use among younger New Yorkers'.

According to Department of Health statistics, nearly 40% of all grade 12 students and 27% of all high school students are now using some form of e-cigarette. While tobacco use has declined overall, vaping has seen a 160% increase in use in recent years.

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