Smokers’ Rights Group Sues New York City Over E-Cigarette Ban

Group claims the city’s ban violates the “one subject” rule of the city charter because it addresses both cigarettes and e-cigarettes.

March 28, 2014

NEW YORK – A smokers’ rights group filed suit earlier this week in New York City, seeking to overturn the ban on electronic cigarettes, the Wall Street Journal reports.

New York City added e-cigarettes to the city’s 2002 Smoke-Free Air Act, a law that bans smoking in places like subways, bars and parks. In the complaint filed Tuesday in the State Supreme Court, the group NYC Citizens Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment (NYC CLASH) said the ban violates the “one subject” rule of the city charter because it addresses cigarettes and e-cigarettes.

Audrey Silk, the co-founder of NYC CLASH, said e-cigarettes should be excluded from the ban because they don’t emit the same kind of secondhand smoke as tobacco cigarettes.

“We’ve been screaming for the last 14 years that the smoking bans have nothing to do with secondhand smoke, and by adding a smoke-free product, this proves that,” Silk said.

In response, City Council Spokeswoman Robin Levine said the e-cigarette ban protects the public. “We are confident it will be upheld in court,” she said.

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