ALBANY — A pair of state lawmakers all too familiar with the devastating effects of smoking are looking to stub out menthol cigarettes for good.
Sen. Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan) and Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte (D-Brooklyn) — arguing that big tobacco companies target minorities and teens with the minty-flavored smokes — introduced legislation Friday that would ban the sale of menthols statewide.
“We as public officials have to do everything in our power to stop what is a preventable death from the use of cigarettes,” Hoylman told the Daily News. “It makes no sense to have a loophole that allows these companies to spread their addiction to new generations of New Yorkers.”
The pols say the proposal is personal — their mothers are currently suffering from smoking-related illnesses and they want to help prevent others from getting hooked.
“Both of our moms are suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease from decades of smoking,” Hoylman said. “My mother is going to die from this disease. It will kill her.”
Bichotte lost her father, who was in his early 70s, to lung and throat cancer.
“Smoking was a contributing factor,” she said. “For me it’s personal, this is personal. I’ve had two parents affected by this, and education and so forth is not as vast in the minority communities to prevent smoking and something needs to be done.”
A 2016 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found roughly nine out of 10 black smokers prefer menthols. Tobacco use is also a major contributor to heart disease, cancer, and stroke, the three leading causes of death among African Americans, according to the CDC.
The legislation would ban any “tobacco products with a characterizing flavor” and anyone caught selling prohibited cigarettes could face a fine. If someone is caught manufacturing the illicit goods they could be charged a $50,000 fine.
A similar proposal is being considered by lawmakers in City Hall and has gained traction in recent months.
The NAACP, which has campaigned against tobacco companies targeting black communities with ads for menthol cigarettes, supports a ban.
The potential prohibition comes as several states, as well as the FDA, have considered pulling flavored e-cigarettes from shelves. Initially marketed as a safer alternative to traditional cigarettes, vaping products have come under fire for the dizzying array of choices that critics say appeal to teens, including bubble gum, candy and mint flavors.
A New York ban on the sale of flavored e-cigs was temporarily halted by a judge earlier this month.
The ongoing court challenge against Gov. Cuomo’s executive action came in the wake of several vaping-related illnesses and deaths. The CDC has noted that the majority of the issues are related to black market marijuana products.
