By Quinn Ursprung

New York Sept. 17, 2019—The Empire State is planning to become the second state, after Michigan, to ban the sale of flavored e-cigarettes. The decision became a pressing-matter after seven deaths from a vaping-related lung illness, as of September 2019. “The nation’s leading health agency activates ‘emergency operations’ to better research the outbreak of lung illnesses associated with e-cigarettes”, CNN Health explains.

Deaths in Kansas, Illinois, Minnesota, Oregon and California are attributed due to vaping. The U.S Centers of Disease Control is actively discussing, “the activation of their Emergency Operation Center due to the outbreak of lung illnesses. Researchers are looking into 380 cases of lung injury with the association of use of e-cigarettes in 36 states and the U.S Virgin Islands.”

New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo, announced an emergency executive action on Sunday to place a ban on the sale of flavored e-cigarettes. The governor’s office told CBS News, they declared executive order, in hope that there will be legislation that aims to eliminate deceptive marketing practices by e-cigarette companies to underage users and to raise the purchasing age of e-cigarettes from 18 to 21-years-old. “New York is confronting this crisis head-on and today we are taking another nation-leading step to combat a public health emergency. Manufacturers of fruit and candy-flavored e-cigarettes are intentionally and recklessly targeting young people, and today we’re taking action to put an end to it,” Governor Cuomo explained.

California joins New York by fighting to create stricter legislation, but so is California. “California will focus on spreading the word about vaping risks while also boosting enforcement efforts on counterfeit products and weighing stricter package warning rules,” Governor of California, Gavin Newson, stated during a news conference.
“The state of California will also investigate tax policy regarding vaping pods. A pack of cigarettes carries a tax of $2.87, while a Juul pod gets only a $1.48 tax”, Government Newsom explained to CNN Health. Governor Newsom agrees with Governor Cuomo when it comes to tobacco products marketing the younger demographics, “You don’t have any bubblegum-flavored, mango-flavored tobacco products unless you’re trying to target an audience that you were losing—that’s young people.”

Tobacco companies claim, “flavored e-cigarettes help adults quit traditional cigarettes” but the Trump administration will work towards the banning of flavored e-cigarettes as health officials warn they’re too appealing to the younger demographic.

CBS News, CNN Health, and the U.S Centers of Disease Control contributed to this story.
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