NY could soon pass ban on flavored e-cigarettes

New York could soon become the first state to ban the sale of flavored e-cigarettes.
A bill banning flavored e-cigarettes passed health committees in the both the state Senate and Assembly. It could reach the Senate floor for a vote as early as this week, according to bill co-sponsor Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, of Manhattan.
Rosenthal says younger smokers are much more likely to use flavored e-cigarettes.
Matt Flax, owner of Vaporville in Hicksville, says flavored e-liquid accounts for 50% of his business.
"You are going to hurt people that enjoy doing it, that enjoy the flavors, who switched from traditional tobacco because of the flavors and it will hurt people's pockets," he says.
If New York does ban flavored e-cigarettes, Flax says he'll have to refocus his business and will likely sell more CBD products.
Nicholas Pennacchia, of Massapequa, is a 21-year-old who started vaping about two to three years ago. He tells News 12 it's safer than traditional smoking, but Dr. Morris Rabinowicz, chairman of pediatrics at Plainview Hospital, says that's a popular misconception and that they still pose health and addiction risks to users.
Rabinowicz says the main reason to get rid of favored e-cigarettes is to reduce the attraction to young people, preventing them from using and getting addicted to the product.
Flavored e-cigarettes with nicotine are already prohibited for people under 18 years old. A bill passed by the state Legislature this year would raise the smoking age to 21. That bill is awaiting Gov. Andrew Cuomo's signature to become law.