ALBANY, N.Y. – If the
American Cancer Society succeeds, flavored tobacco products could soon
disappear from New York convenience store shelves, the Huffington Post reports.
The group is pushing the state to ban all candy- and fruit-flavored tobacco
products, including flavored chewing tobacco, cigarillos and water-pipe
tobacco. Those products would only be available in tobacco stores.
Currently, no state has
such a ban, although New York City and Providence, Rhode Island, have enacted
similar restrictions. Maine forbids the sale of “premium” flavored cigars
(which are larger than cigarillos), and Maryland is considering a comparable
law.
“If New York acts, it
would be the first state in the nation, and turbocharge efforts nationally,”
said Blair Horner, vice president of advocacy at the American Cancer Society
and Cancer Action Network of New York and New Jersey.
The New York Association
of Convenience Stores (NYACS) opposes the ban because:
- It would drive the sale of these products
underground.
- It’s an all-out ban, as opposed to a
regulation.
- It leapfrogs FDA regulation.
- It’s a solution disproportionate to the
problem.
- It inexplicably exempts one channel of retail
trade.
- It unjustifiably exempts certain tobacco
products.
“As parents, citizens and
business owners, we share the sponsors’ commitment to keeping tobacco out of
the hands of children,” James Calvin, NYACS president, told NACS Daily. “Our good-faith,
preventative efforts have helped dramatically curb the incidence of underage
tobacco sales in retail stores.”
The number of flavored
tobacco products has jumped over the past five years, and during the same time
period, convenience stores have reached a 94% compliance rate in adhering to
state laws regarding sale of tobacco products to minors, said Calvin.
In September 2009, the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration banned candy-, clove- and fruit-flavored
cigarettes as part of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.