Are flavored vapes illegal in NY?

NYC has a law that restricts the sale of flavored tobacco and vaping products (also known as e-cigarettes). According to this law, retailers may only sell tobacco products that are unflavored or are tobacco, menthol, mint or wintergreen flavored. Also, retailers may only sell e-cigarettes, e-liquids or liquid nicotine that are tobacco flavored or unflavored. Selling other flavors is illegal.

Under state and local laws, products that heat tobacco but do not burn it, such as IQOS, are subject to the same laws as other tobacco products. Heated tobacco products expose people using them and those nearby to tar and toxic chemicals. Like other tobacco products in NYC they may only be sold in unflavored and menthol/mint flavors.

Tobacco companies market tobacco and nicotine products in many varieties and flavors — including some that look and taste like candy — to appeal to young people.

  • Prohibited Product List (PDF)
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Menthol Tobacco Products

Menthol is a minty-flavored substance sometimes added to tobacco products. Menthol cigarettes are just as harmful as non-menthol cigarettes. The menthol additive makes the smoke less harsh and easier to tolerate, especially for new smokers.

Menthol cigarettes have become popular in NYC due to aggressive industry marketing.

  • The Truth About Menthol Tobacco Products Fact Sheet (PDF)
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Flavored Recreational Nicotine Products: Pouches, Toothpicks, Lozenges, Gum

Recreational nicotine products include pouches, toothpicks, tobacco-free dip, lozenges and gum. These new products deliver nicotine without tobacco and are available in many flavors, which may appeal to youth.

Nicotine is addictive, especially for teens. The flavors, ingredients and effects of recreational nicotine products are not closely regulated. These products should not be confused with FDA-approved tobacco treatment medicines (PDF), such as nicotine replacement therapy, which can be sold over-the-counter.

  • Recreational Nicotine Is Not Nicotine Replacement Therapy guidance (PDF)

Get Involved in Your Community

  • For activities to engage youth, review Defeat Flavors and End Nicotine Dependence Toolkit Guide (PDF)
  • If you have a complaint about unlicensed tobacco retailers or underage sales in your neighborhood:
    • Call 311
    • File a tobacco product sales complaint online for flavored products or unlicensed sales
    • File an underage sales complaint online
  • Write letters to your school or local newspaper about tobacco and vape industry marketing in your community.
  • Share pictures of harmful tobacco or vaping product ads in your neighborhood on social media.
  • Talk to friends and family about tobacco or vaping products ads that have harmful messaging.
  • Address tobacco use in your community through your local youth reality check group or the Take Down Tobacco Online Training Program

More Information

  • Tobacco and E-Cigarette Retailers
  • Smoking: NYC Quits
  • E-cigarettes
  • Smoke-Free Air Laws
  • Hookah
  • Information on Smoking, Tobacco and E-cigarette Use for Clinicians
  • Cannabis

Prohibition on Sale of Tobacco and Nicotine Vapor Products in Pharmacies Also Begins Today

Both Laws Were Part of Comprehensive Tobacco Control Policy Outlined in the FY 2020-21 Executive Budget

ALBANY, N.Y. (May 18, 2020) - The New York State Department of Health today announced that two signature pieces of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo's Comprehensive Tobacco Control Policy take effect today. The first law prohibits the sale of flavored nicotine vapor products, and the second bans the sale of all tobacco and nicotine vapor products in pharmacies. Both Executive Budget Proposals were included in the enacted FY 2020-21 budget.

"The ban on flavored nicotine vapor products will protect our children, who, thanks to the tobacco industry's marketing efforts, have been using vaping products at alarming rates," said New York State Commissioner of Health Dr. Howard Zucker. "Starting today, we will no longer permit Big Tobacco to target young New Yorkers for a lifetime of nicotine addiction."

The law does not include flavorless and tobacco flavored nicotine vapor products, as well as nicotine vapor products that are approved by the FDA, which has currently approved none.

Flavors are largely responsible for the dramatic increase in use of e-cigarettes by youth and are a principal reason that youth initiate and maintain e-cigarette use. According to Department of Health data, nearly 40 percent of 12th grade students and 27 percent of high school students in New York State are now using e-cigarettes, and this increase is largely driven by flavored e-liquids. High school use in 2018 (27.4%) is 160 percent higher than it was in 2014 (10.5%). While New York's high school student cigarette smoking rate dropped from 27.1% in 2000 to a record low of 4.3% in 2016, aggressive marketing strategies promoting flavored e-cigarettes are primed to reverse that trend.

Flavoring is a key youth marketing strategy of the vaping/aerosol industry just as it is in the cigarette, cigarand smokeless tobacco markets. E-cigarette marketing highlights flavors such as mint chocolate, bubblegum and cherry cola, and creates adeceptivebelief that they are not harmful to users. In a 2017 survey of 15-to-17-year-old adolescents in New York State currently using electronic vapor products, 19% of the adolescents said that flavors were the reason that they first tried an e-cigarette and 27% said flavors were the reason for maintaining use. Studies also show nearly 78% of high school students and 75% of middle school students report being exposed to pro-tobacco marketing in 2016.Legislation will be advanced next session to prevent these deceptive and misleading advertisements to target our youth.

Governor Cuomo has taken unprecedented steps to ensure the health and safety of all New Yorkers by combating the use of harmful tobacco and nicotine products. The Enacted Budget prohibits the sale or distribution of e-cigarettes or nicotine vapor products that have a characterizing flavor unless approved as part of an FDA pre-market approval; prohibits the sale of tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, in all pharmacies; restricts the delivery of nicotine vapor products only to NYS-licensed vapor products dealer; restricts the public display of tobacco and nicotine vapor products near schools; requires manufacturers of nicotine vapor products to disclose to the DOH Commissioner and the public, information regarding the ingredients, by-products, or contaminants in vapor products, whether intentional or unintentionally added; allows the DOH Commissioner to ban certain carrier oils if they are determined to be harmful; bans coupons and manufacturer discounts and displays in shops; and increases penalties for illegally selling tobacco products to minors.

Are vape flavors illegal?

Flavored e-cigarettes have not been allowed in the U.S. since the Food and Drug Administration banned them two years ago. The only choices visible behind the clerk are menthol and tobacco, made by large corporations such as Juul and still allowed by the FDA.

Can flavored vapes be shipped to NY?

New York prohibits the online sale of any vaping products that contain liquid. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has enacted a ban on flavored nicotine products, including menthol. This ban does not include nicotine-free liquid. The city also prohibits the online sale of e-liquid that contains nicotine salt.

What states have a vape flavor ban?

U.S. bans on flavored vapes and online sales.
Arkansas – online sales ban. ... .
California – flavor ban (on hold until 2022) ... .
Maine – online sales ban. ... .
Massachusetts – flavor ban. ... .
New Jersey – flavor ban. ... .
New York – flavor ban + online sales ban. ... .
Oregon – online sales ban. ... .
Rhode Island – flavor ban..

Can you order flavored vape juice Online in New York?

Online sales of e-liquids are banned (vapor products are folded into the same provision that bans shipment of cigarettes to consumers). This does not include components or devices.