New York, NY – Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal (D/WF-Manhattan) today announced that her bill (A588A/S2833) to raise the statewide smoking and vaping purchasing age to 21 years old has become law. The law will take effect in 120 days.

"Big tobacco and its vaping industry cronies build their business by hooking young people on nicotine," said Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal (D/WF-Manhattan). "Raising the statewide smoking and vaping age to 21 years old will help prevent a new generation of young people from getting hooked on nicotine. It will also ensure that young people cannot just travel to another county to purchase dangerous and highly addictive cigarettes or e-cigarettes."

Tobacco use continues to be the number one cause of preventable death in the United States. Though New York has been successful in reducing smoking rates among all age groups year after year, 14% of adults still smoke. Approximately 95% of adults began smoking before they turned 21 years old. Increasing the smoking and vaping age will help further reduce smoking rates.

In addition, e-cigarette use, primarily Juul products, has exploded among New York’s youth population, and its popularity threatens to undo years of success reducing youth tobacco use rates. According to the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH), e-cigarette use among young people has doubled between 2014 and 2016, and NYSDOH suggests that 27.4% of New York’s high school students have reported vaping in the last month.

“Despite the efforts of Big Tobacco 2.0 to turn today’s young people into tomorrow’s smokers, New York has been in the vanguard of smoking and vaping regulation, and we will continue our crusade to end youth smoking,” said Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal. “Next on the agenda is passing my bill to ban the sale of flavored e-cigarettes, which are specifically designed to attract children and young people.

Teens and young adults use e-cigarettes at higher rates than any other age group, owing in large part to their flavor. Health experts are concerned that increased e-cigarette use among young people will lead to traditional smoking in adulthood.

Currently, more than 400 localities in 24 states and seven states, including California, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon and Virginia, have raised their tobacco purchasing age to 21 years old.

The bill was sponsored in the State Senate by Diane Savino.

“Governor Cuomo and the state legislature have returned New York State to a position of national leadership in standing up to Big Tobacco to save lives and protect health. This measure directly addresses the stark statistic that 95 percent of smokers start before 21. Tobacco 21 is a no-brainer and will protect young people from a deadly addiction," said American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) New York Senior Government Relations Director Julie Hart.

“This major public health advancement will help to prevent a generation of New Yorkers from becoming addicted to smoking by delaying children and young adults’ access to tobacco products,” stated Art Fougner, MD, President, Medical Society of the State of New York. “Data shows the earlier a child begins to smoke the more severe the addiction is likely to be and 90% of all smokers begin before age 20. This new law will reduce the likelihood they ever start smoking and therefore create a healthier state. We thank Governor Cuomo for signing this legislation into law, and Assemblywoman Rosenthal and Senator Savino for advancing this important legislation.”

“Because of the Tobacco 21 law, we are looking forward to paving the way for the younger generation. For the 12 and 13-year-olds that were thinking of starting to use e-cigarettes, this is putting up a barrier. This is our way of saying we want to protect you, and this is what’s best for you. Thank you Assemblywoman Rosenthal and the co-sponsors for championing this issue,” said Jack Waxman, President of Youth Decide," said Jack Waxman, President of Youth Decide.

“As a national parent group founded in New York, Parents Against Vaping E-cigarettes (PAVe) is thrilled that today Governor Andrew Cuomo has signed into law Tobacco 21 legislation, passed this spring by New York’s lawmakers, that raises the minimum legal age to purchase any tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, to 21-years-of-age. This is a very important first step towards protecting New York’s youth from the predatory practices of e-cigarette companies including JUUL, Big Tobacco 2.0, and we applaud Assembly member Linda Rosenthal, a passionate advocate for New York’s children and families, for her leadership on this issue. Since e-cigarette use is skyrocketing among middle- and high-school students in our state and across the country, we now urge New York's legislators to join Rosenthal in supporting a ban on flavored e-cigarette products because research has proven that flavors are hooking our kids. Unless New York bans these flavored products as soon as possible, we face having an entire generation of kids addicted to nicotine,” Meredith Berkman, Co-Founder of Parents Against Vaping E-cigarettes.

“Today, New York State took a significant step in protecting the health and wellness of its residents – and we are proud to congratulate Governor Cuomo and the New York legislature for their bold leadership in protecting young people from a dangerous addiction to tobacco products,” Wimmer said. “We already know that adolescents and young adults have proven to be uniquely vulnerable to the effects of nicotine and nicotine addiction, making this legislation an important, lifesaving measure. With the rise of easily concealable devices and fruit- and candy-flavored tobacco products appealing to youth, Tobacco 21 is more important now than ever before in order to protect children, reduce smoking rates, save on healthcare costs and prevent tobacco-related death and disease. We are eager to celebrate the passage of this law in New York, and will continue our work in fighting for strong Tobacco 21 laws across the nation,” said Harold Wimmer, President and CEO of the American Lung Association.

“Tobacco 21 is a great investment in the health of New Yorkers,” said Theresa Petrone Butts, chair of the Capital Region Advisory Board of the American Heart Association and longtime advocate for Tobacco 21. “We thank Assemblywoman Rosenthal for her leadership and persistence in getting Tobacco 21 passed.”

“Thanks to this bold step, New York will prevent young people from starting to use tobacco, save lives and help make the next generation tobacco-free. The new Tobacco 21 law will help reverse the youth e-cigarette epidemic and further drive down tobacco use, still the No. 1 cause of preventable death in the United States,” said Kevin O’Flaherty, Director of Advocacy – Northeast Region of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

New York State has been at the forefront of e-cigarette regulation for many years. In 2012, Assemblymember Rosenthal’s legislation to ban the sale of e-cigarettes to minors under the age of 18 was passed into law, and then extended to include the sale of liquid nicotine. In 2017, Assemblymember Rosenthal’s legislation extending the protections of the State’s Clean Indoor Air Act, which prohibits smoking in the vast majority of indoor spaces statewide, to include e-cigarettes was passed into law, and her legislation banning e-cigarettes on school grounds statewide was signed into law. In 2018, Assemblymember Rosenthal’s bill to ban the distribution of free e-cigarette samples to students became law. This year, her legislation to create an e-cigarette registration system was included in the State budget.

Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal represents the 67th Assembly district, which includes the Upper West Side and parts of the Clinton/ Hell's Kitchen neighborhoods in Manhattan.