By Forum Staff
Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Corporation Counsel Sylvia O. Hinds-Radix on Monday announced that the City is filing a federal lawsuit against four major distributors of flavored disposable e-cigarettes, the most popular vaping devices among middle-school children and high school youth. The four defendants — Magellan Technology Inc. and Demand Vape, both based in Buffalo, NY; Mahant Krupa 56 LLC d/b/a Empire Vape Distributors, based in Queens; and Star Vape, based in Brooklyn — are alleged to have distributed, and continue to distribute, exotically flavored disposable e-cigarettes to retail vape and smoke shops, convenience stores, and directly to consumers in NYC through online sales, in violation of nearly every applicable federal, New York State, and New York City law governing the sale of such products. Monday’s lawsuit seeks to block the four defendants from further sales of these illegal items and seeks both monetary damages and fines.
Most e-liquids provide nicotine levels far exceeding that of conventional cigarettes — some have as much nicotine as 175 to 350 cigarettes. Additionally, federal health authorities, such as the U.S. surgeon general and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, say youth-friendly flavors in e-cigarettes, such as “strawberry milkshake,” “cola,” and “pina colada” are among the flavors that tempt kids to “vape” high levels of nicotine. Child-friendly, cartoon character packaging on e-cigarettes targeted at young people has also contributed to the epidemic of nicotine addiction among middle and high school youth.
Between 2017 and 2019, e-cigarette use among young people nearly doubled. In October 2022, the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released federal data from the 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey finding that one in 10 U.S. middle and high school students had used e-cigarettes in a 30-day sample period. Specifically, 14.1 percent (2.14 million) of high school students and 3.3 percent (380,000) of middle school students reported current e-cigarette use. Flavored e-liquids were used by 81 percent of first-time users, aged 12 to 17, who had ever used electronic nicotine delivery devices, and 85.3 percent of current youth users had used a flavored e-liquid in the past month.
Consistent with the national trend, e-cigarette consumption in New York City schools has climbed in recent years. The 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey revealed that 15.2 percent of public high school students and 6.7 percent of public middle school students surveyed reported current use of electronic vapor products.
All this led the FDA, in January 2020, to ban flavored vape products. Flavor bans have also been enacted in New York state and New York City, as well as in many other cities and states nationwide. Additionally, the federal Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act prohibits anything other than face-to-face sales of disposable e-cigarettes unless the sales comply with all state and local laws of the jurisdiction in which the sale occurs. This is an impossibility in New York City and in New York state where the New York Public Health Code and the New York City Administrative Code prohibit the sale of flavored disposable e-cigarettes altogether.
“Holding manufacturers accountable for enabling, promoting, and selling these products that threaten our children and communities is a necessary step to combating the problem. Selling these products are illegal, and we will continue to remove them from our communities,” said City Sheriff Anthony Miranda.
