Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Corporation Counsel Sylvia O. Hinds-Radix announce that the City of New York is filing a federal lawsuit against four major distributors of flavored disposable e-cigarettes | Photo by Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office.
NEW YORK — Four major distributors of flavored disposable e-cigarettes, the most popular vaping devices among middle-school children and high school youth, are the subject of a federal lawsuit filed by the New York City Corporation Counsel Sylvia O. Hinds-Radix.
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 New York City through online sales, in violation of nearly every applicable federal, New York state, and New York City law governing the sale of such products.
The lawsuit seeks to block the four defendants from further selling these illegal items and seeks monetary damages and fines. Hinds-Radix said this lawsuit aims to stop this illegal conduct and protect the youth against these highly addictive and dangerous products.
“There is nothing more important than the health of young New Yorkers, but while these four distributors have chosen profits over people, we won’t sit idly by as they continue to poison our children,” said Mayor Eric Adams. “Even though the packaging and flavoring of some of these products might seem harmless, they are 100 percent harmful.”
Adams added: “These products are packed with nicotine, a toxic and highly addictive chemical that is particularly damaging to adolescent minds and bodies. We will do whatever it takes to keep our children safe, and today’s lawsuit seeks to put an end to the greedy, harmful, and openly illegal behavior of these four nicotine pushers.”
According to the Adams administration, most e-liquids provide nicotine levels far exceeding that of conventional cigarettes — some have as much nicotine as 175 to 350 cigarettes. It cited the U.S. surgeon general and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as saying 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.
Statistics indicate that 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 recently. 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 where the sale occurs. This is an impossibility in New York City and 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.
Despite these laws, city agencies documented thousands of illegal sales of flavored vapes by city stores in 2022, levying thousands of dollars in fines. In January of this year, the New York City Sheriff’s Office deputies seized hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of illegal flavored vapes from stores on the Upper West Side.
More recently, in May of this year, investigators were able to purchase flavored disposable e-cigarettes from vape and smoke shops and convenience stores throughout the city. Overall, since the formation of the Joint Interagency Task Force convened by Mayor Adams last December, the Sheriff’s Office has seized 319,636 packages of flavored vape, with an estimated value of $6.4 million.
“The city proactively created laws that protect the health of young people and reduce tobacco companies’ power to market their harmful products to kids,” said New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Deputy Commissioner and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Michelle Morse. “It is infuriating that these companies think they can bypass our laws to hook children on addictive e-cigarettes. The younger a person begins to smoke or vape, the harder it is to quit. This lawsuit shows that New York City will fight to protect the health of its young people.”
The American Lung Association, Parents Against Vaping E-cigarettes, Public Health Solutions, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, city council members, and health officials applauded and thanked Adams and Hinds-Radix for protecting children and holding manufacturers accountable for enabling, promoting, and selling these products that threaten children’s health and life.
–With Ricky Rillera/PDM
