THURSDAY, Nov. 14, 2019 (HealthDay News) — The minimum age to buy tobacco and electronic cigarette products in New York State is now 21.
The new law took effect on Wednesday and officials said that state police and the Department of Health will conduct undercover investigations of retailers to enforce it, CNN reported.
“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,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement earlier this month. “We are taking aggressive action to make sure the decades of progress we’ve made to combat tobacco addiction is not undone by a sharp rise in e-cigarette use among younger New Yorkers.”
New York is the 18th state to make 21 the minimum age to buy tobacco and e-cigarette products, according to the Preventing Tobacco Addiction Foundation. In September, New York became the first state to ban the sale of flavored e-cigarettes and nicotine e-liquids, CNN reported.
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