NYC bans tobacco sales to anyone under age 21

[Jesus Malverde]

Source: AP

Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed landmark legislation Tuesday banning the sale of tobacco products to anyone under the age of 21, making New York the first large city or state in the country to prohibit sales to young adults.

During a brief ceremony at City Hall, Bloomberg said raising the legal purchase age from 18 to 21 will help prevent young people from experimenting with tobacco at the age when they are most likely to become addicted. City health officials say 80 percent of smokers start before age 21.

The mayor, a former smoker, also signed companion legislation setting a minimum price for all cigarettes sold in the city: $10.50 per pack. The same new law bans retailers from offering coupons, 2-for-1 specials, or discounts.

In signing the bills, Bloomberg turned away criticism from some retailers that the measures would be economically harmful and lead to job losses.

"This is an issue of whether we are going to kill people," Bloomberg said. People who raise the economic argument, he said, "really out to look in the mirror and be ashamed."


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/medical/article/NYC-bans-tobacco-sales-to-anyone-under-age-21-4992650.php

[Auggie]

1. Helloooo, Black Market

[HockeyMom]

2. Sale

I worked for a tobacco company in NYC at 19. They gave free cartons to their employees. Ban anyone under 21 from WORKING there?

[Jesus Malverde]

3. Good question...

Bloomberg is the busybody billionaire. He should retire to his mansion in London.

[HockeyMom]

4. Shinnecock Reservation on Long Island

You can go there and buy a CARTON for $12.50. My daughter's MIL works on the LIRR, goes to the reservation, and takes "orders" for her friends.

Sorry, Bloomie, just like with Prohibition, people will find a way around it.

[christx30]

5. But...but... but...

it's the Law of the Land! Going around it or defying it is wrong, terrible, awful, and just plain mean.
Bloomberg is contemptable little man.

[KamaAina]

6. Closer to home, there's Jersey City

a few minutes from Manhattan on PATH. Many New Yorkers already shop at Newport Mall (really!) for the lower sales taxes.

[HockeyMom]

9. Oh, don't I know

I used to go clothes shopping years ago in NJ to escape the NYC Sales Tax.

[Jesus Malverde]

7. Make a good point about this being a boon for NYC's famous organized crime...

how convenient...

[HockeyMom]

11. Illegal? How?

Free travel. Who says I have to buy cigarettes inside NYC? I lived on LI for over 20 years and bought them there. I now live in Florida. If I am inside of NYC, who says I can only smoke cigs BOUGHT in NYC?

[Jesus Malverde]

14. My point was the more the mayor taxes and restricts the product the more they can profit in the city

going outside the city is legal even for the 18 year olds..

[HockeyMom]

27. I also crossed state lines to avoid tax on clothing

Illegal too? I would even see if I found something as gifts for my friends. Trafficing too? Hey, even LI has lower taxes than NYC. Going to the Riverhead Outlet Malls illegal too in order to avoid NYC taxes?

Me thinks, you think it is only BAD when it applies to CIGARETTES, not something like clothing.

[mac56]

34. Are you re-selling the clothing?

[HockeyMom]

36. I asked them for the COST of the clothing

I did not mark up the price. Not making a PROFIT. They gave me what I paid for it. I cannot count the number of times we filled up in NEW JERSEY to avoid NY's higher gas taxes. Get through with 2 gallons of gas over the border so you can fill up in NY???? Don't like that one either?

I bring up oranges from Florida to NY all the time. People PAY me for the cost of the oranges. Is that trafficking in oranges across state lines? ROFL Look at all the $$$$ being lost for shipping costs!!!!!!

Do you support charging tax by state over the Net? Or just for cigarettes?????

Done. This is getting utterly stupid. You will have DeBlasio who is seems is not a HEALTH FANATIC like Bloomie.

[bobclark86]

13. Your daughter's mother in law is likely breaking state law...

that's trafficking in untaxed cigarettes, which is illegal in New York State, and since the reservations are under federal jurisdiction, could be a federal offense.

BTW, shops on the rez were forced to pay $10 million to the city earlier this year for this reason.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/cough-10m-cigaretteig-shops-reservation-burned-untaxed-sales-article-1.1306312

[HockeyMom]

19. she isn't making a profit

they pay her the exact amount of the cigarettes. Just like going to a store and getting someone a quart of milk. She lives on LI and has friends there and in the City. My daughter has gone there for me and brought them back. Trafficking among family members too? Last I went I bought hers for her. She is 34 year old. Sorry, Bloomie. Ever hear of gifts? You can give guns as gifts but not cigarettes?

[mac56]

35. But they're really NOT paying her the exact cost of the cigarettes

if they weren't sold on the reservation.

It's not like buying the quart of milk at all.

Gifts are not the same thing. They aren't covered by this.

[HockeyMom]

46. They ARE being bought in Shirley on the reservation

for $12.50. That is what they charge. She, and my daughter to me, get $12.50 per carton. NO PROFITS. Do you also think people who aren't Natives cannot go there? BTW, there are a LOT of different shops there.

[bobclark86]

44. Doesn't matter about profit.

Still illegal. Buying untaxed cigarettes with the intent to resell is breaking the law.

BTW, guns are quite a bit different. You aren't trying to avoid taxes, and yes, somebody giving you money to buy a gun is illegal (a straw purchase). A gift is a gift. The aformentioned mother in law is not buying these as a gift.

[HockeyMom]

47. I say to my DAUGHTER

hre is $12.50. Go buy me a carton of cigarettes on the resversation. She lives in Suffolk County, not NYC. Hell, before she heard about that, I would bring them back from FLORIDA. Again, no NY tax to a New Yorker.

[OneCrazyDiamond]

8. Once tobacco taxes drop in NYC,

and rise in say Atlantic City, this will change.

[bravenak]

10. Most start smoking before they're 18 anyway. They're already smoking by that time.

How is this helping? We should fund more programs to help people quit smoking.
I don't like Bloomberg.

[HockeyMom]

12. Thankfully, I doubt DeBlasio

is going to be a Health Czar Mayor.

Edit: I didn't start smoking until I was 22, long after I quit that company. I gave my free cartons to my friends who smoked. No sale. How does Bloomie prevent that?

[randome]

15. It's like any other local law. Not designed to be a catch-all.

It helps drive the point home that smoking is crap and many won't bother getting started or will quit.

For die-hard addicts, there are always other options. I don't think anyone is disputing that.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Treat your body like a machine. Your mind like a castle.[/center][/font][hr]

[bravenak]

16. Bloomberg just needs to go back to his mansion and shut up.

People will just have somebody grab their smokes for them. He can't control jack shit.
I like DeBlasio. Maybe he'll try to repeal this thing or take appropriated action on Bloomies nonsense.

[mac56]

17. Legal drinking age in New York is 21.

I don't think the state has fallen into tottering ruin yet.

[alp227]

18. Most reasonable post here.

In my opinion, the smoking and drinking ages should be equal. The one part of the law where i agree with Bloomberg, as illogical as his statement about the law is.

REAL effective anti smoking laws would ban smoking in places where others don't consent to having filth blown in their faces.

[HockeyMom]

20. Like you own apartment?

Oh, we can smell it when you open your door. NOWHERE is what you want if you are really honest about it.

[alp227]

39. People who want to smoke should not blow their filth in everyone else's faces.

The cost of living in a multi resident complex is respecting other people's space. No excessive noise, no smoking. Period.

[HockeyMom]

42. You are in your OWN space in

your own apartment and blowing smoke at you WALLS, not other people. Sorry, I will not be a LEPER for you. If I want to smoke in my own space, and be as far away from you as I possibly can, I WILL. Ever consider even if I were not smoking, maybe I wouldn't want to be around you anyway? Kinda like I feel about gunners.

[mac56]

21. Right on.

A non-smoking section in a restaurant is like a non-pissing section in a swimming pool.

[geardaddy]

23. Agreed, but I think the drinking age should be lowered

to 18, like reasonable nations do.

18 is the age of consent, for all things.

[HockeyMom]

37. I agree

You can die for your country at 18, you can drink or smoke too. Remember, they lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 for exactly that reason.

[Nanjing to Seoul]

53. You can go to prison for life at 18. Can't smoke one or drink one?

You can be executed as a minor, but can't smoke or drink one.

Tired of nanny state politics.

[hughee99]

49. Is the concern that at 18, one can't handle tobacco responsibly enough

to avoid endangering others, and that once they turn 21, the risk they pose "smoking and driving" is much less?

It's good to know that NY is fine to treat an 18 year old as an adult when it comes to defending your country, making medical decisions, or during a trial, but when it comes to having a cigarette, well, you're just not old enough to make your own decisions. The good people of NYC are just lucky to have someone like Bloomberg around to make decisions for them. I hope the next mayor makes good decisions for New Yorkers too.

[rug]

22. How about banning evicting tenants for condo conversions?

[DeSwiss]

24. Nanny Bloomberg.

If you live in NYC and you're under 21 you:

Can vote.
Can enlist to die in Afghanistan.
Can buy a house.
Can bet on the horses.
Can legally have sex in a Nevada brothel.
Can enter into a student loan contract even though you have no job.
You can even jump off a mountain and swing on a rope.

- But you can't buy ciggies in NYC. And I hate the goddamned things......

[mac56]

30. One of the few things George F. Will ever wrote that I agree with

had to do with why 18 year olds could join the Army and fight, but couldn't legally purchase and consume alcohol.

He said that the same qualities that make 18 year olds good soldiers, also make them poor risks for drinking alcohol.

They think they're invincible. They think they're ten feet tall and bulletproof. They do reckless things without contemplating the consequences.

Just sayin'

[DeSwiss]

54. The ''quality'' that you mention is ignorance......

...a willingness to please and to unquestioningly follow orders they're given. The older and more experienced one becomes, the less likely you'll be willing to run into gun fire, especially after you figure out why you're there.

They found this out in Vietnam when troops began fragging their stupid leaders. This they sought not to repeat. Thus the dumbing-down of Americans continues in earnest.

It's the same reason they don't want cops that are too smart. WANTED: Low IQ Cops & MORE

It's the same reason they'll allow people who have fought in these immoral wars and developed PTSD to still become cops. Can I Be a Cop With PTSD?

- This ain't no ''quality'' this is immaturity and ignorance of truth. It's why they call them GREEN. And stop listening to George Will, he's an idiot.

[Tikki]

25. YAY…

We were at a Casino that allowed some smoking…cigarettes cost $10.00 a pack there..I hope
all those packs sit in machine so long they rot and mold.


Tikki

[HockeyMom]

28. Be prepared

bring enough WITH you. You don't get it. Think PROHIBTION and the lenghts people went to.

[Tikki]

31. No one < or > 19 needs to smoke…there is nothing about cigarettes that is inherent in that right.

I wish, once and for all, the government and community standards would just make cigarette smoking
in public or around children a human rights violation or make it an anti-decency act.

Tikki

[mac56]

32. There's a solution to all this, a way to avoid the unfairness of it all

that no one has mentioned yet.

[PeteSelman]

26. So 18 is not the age of adulthood.

You can go to a state pen, vote or die in war but you can't have a beer or a smoke? Ridiculous.

[HockeyMom]

29. Absolutely

When I was young both were legal at 18.

[warrant46]

33. In my state you get to go to Prison at age 17

And lots do-- there is an automatic waiver age of 14 for prison for intentional homicide

And you can buy dope and guns at any age all you need is the $$$

[paulkienitz]

38. I would suggest just one minor tweak to the law:

Ban sales to anyone who is under 21 today. That is, anyone who was born later than November 19, 1992 never becomes eligible to buy cigarettes.

Or maybe we could grandfather in people who yesterday were legally smoking at age 19. Whatever.

[SoapBox]

40. Good.

It should be banned period.

I canNot stand the stench of a smoker.

[penultimate]

55. why is it 21? Why not make it 25?

I dislike smoking too, but I do not like this law because it's arbitrary. If you're going to ban it, then it ban it for everyone. If it's about the health of people around the smoker, then age shouldn't matter and they should just be banned outright(or banned from all public places) If it's about the health of the smoker, then why are cigarettes illegal until 21, but drinking soda and other unhealthy choices are not?

[onehandle]

41. They should just go ahead and ban public smoking. It's inevitable, so why not do it now?

Much easier to ban smoking in places, than banning the drug itself.

[HockeyMom]

43. Problem with that is

that they would not be satified with that. Ban smoking in your own homes, in your own cars too. Private spaces. They want to try to eradicate smoking period. Hello, people. They tried to do that with drinking. Did that work?

[bobclark86]

45. Really?

Where is the ban for all smoking? Go get a source. I'll wait.

BTW, smoking kills more than 430,000 Americans a year (that's about 200x more deaths than by guns). The health costs are astronomical on both the individual level and the national level. I'm fine with paying for a girl to get the pill -- hell, even an abortion -- with my insurance. I hate getting up the bum through my premiums because some idiot decided smoking a plant (at a cost of $2,000 to $5,000 a year for the product alone) was a good idea.

The only ways to cover those costs are a) get more money to cover it through taxes, and b) lower the number of smokers.

[HockeyMom]

48. You won't be paying for me

even though by all your health care standards I should have been dead decades ago. I don't go for anything, much less smoking. Search my other posts how I feel about health care. I didn't go for my head cracked open and bleeding. Is that smoking related? Would you want to pay for that?

[bobclark86]

52. Tell that to the literally hundreds of thousands who do...

Thank you for not wasting my money on your stupid habit.

[penultimate]

56. That would make more sense than this law, in my opinion.

[RebelOne]

50. Kudos to NY. But that is not going to stop under aged

kids from buying cigarettes. They will find a way to buy them. I wish that law had been in effect in Florida when I started smoking at 15 years old. Even though I could not buy them at that age I always found a way to get them. My mother was a smoker, so I would sneak some of hers. I am 74 now and still smoking and wish I never started, but nicotine is more addictive than drugs. I know, because I did cocaine for a few years, but was able to kick that habit, but I cannot kick the habit of cigarettes.

[PassingFancy]

58. I can relate to your post

I started smoking at 12 and am 60 - sure wish I'd never started - have tried to stop many times in the past - they are most assuredly more addictive than drugs (I know that for a fact as I quit all drugs easily after quite a few years of doing them with absolutely no relapse and absolutely no side effects). When I've tried to quit smoking, after a couple of days, I turn into a real witch.

[CFLDem]

51. I like how people equate tobacco with cigarettes.

What about hookah, or cigars, or chew, or e-cigs?

All of which are fairly popular at universities where the young adults will legally take up these habits away from the tin pot tyranny of NYC.

Only to bring them to NYC when they move back after graduation.

Yep, that's one airtight plan they got there.

[PassingFancy]

57. Getting so sick of the anti-smoking people

So glad I don't live in NYC - Bloomberg sucks.

I started smoking many years ago at the young age of 12. Back then, all I had to do is have a note from a family member to buy cigarettes for them (and my cousin did that for me since she is the one who left a cigarette burning to tend to my grandma when I was 12 and I tried it and liked it). I am 60 and still smoke. No health issues attributed to smoking. As soon as my now 27 year old son turned 18, he'd go buy me a pack of smokes if I was busy cooking or something. I'm in Washington State and many times, I went to the reservation to avoid the taxes (that is until the state became ridiculous about the taxes). I also would get people to buy my cigarettes for me at the Army or Air Force Base Exchange and pay a lot less than on the economy. We used to go to Oregon to get cigarettes in bulk since they were much cheaper when we'd be headed down there to buy the Powerball tickets before they were on sale here in Washington. I've also bought cigarettes for others on the reservations and they'd pay me extra for my trouble of getting the cigarettes for them. I've transported many cartons across state lines from Idaho to Washington and Oregon to Washington for myself and others - I don't feel I've done anything illegal in doing so. I'm thinking very seriously about heading down to Oregon when I don't want to pay any sales tax instead of the ridiculous sales taxes here in Washington.

To me if men and women are old enough to go fight ridiculous wars at 18, they should be able to smoke and drink at 18. Otherwise, raise the military enlistment age to 21.

And, I can tell you, if I am outside and some schmuck tells me I can't smoke in the open air away from doors and windows of a business or residence, I will tell them what to do to themselves in no uncertain terms.

[Decaffeinated]

59. You can join the Army and possibly die or vote for your representative...

... but we don't trust you to smoke or drink just yet.

Fucking nanny power grabbers...