U.S. Mayor of New York City Launches Vape Product Lawsuit

New York Mayor Eric Adams has filed a lawsuit in federal court stipulating that distributors be required to ban the sale of flavored e-cigarettes that appeal to children, according to a July 10 report by CBS.

Adams expressed out that he does not want to see middle and high school students vaping e-cigarettes and cigarettes anymore. In his opinion, some e-cigarette products contain the nicotine equivalent of 175 to 350 cigarettes.

“Those who claim that these products are safe are wrong; these products contain nicotine, which is a toxic and highly addictive chemical that is particularly harmful to the brains and bodies of teenagers.”

The incident lawsuit involves four distributors, including Buffalo-based MagellanTechnologyInc and DemandVape, and its Queens-based EmpireVapeDistributors and Brooklyn-based StarVape.
The officers expressed out that they sell to retail e-cigarettes and tobacco stores, convenience stores and their direct-to-consumer sales via the Internet. City police have confiscated thousands of dollars worth of such products.

Legal counsel Sylvia Hinds-Radix expressed out:

“These flavors which include fruit, candy, and dessert flavors are clearly designed to appeal to young people.”

The lawsuit accuses the distributors of violating city, state and federal laws, including the federal RICO statute, which is often used to combat organized crime gangs. The use of the law against e-cigarette distributors demonstrates the anti-e-cigarette community’s antipathy toward such products.

Meredith Berman, co-founder of ParentsAgainstVapingE-Cigarettes, told the press:

“The RICO regulations are designed to go after bloodthirsty profiteers, and these companies are the mob. They use flavor to get kids addicted.”

The lawsuit stipulates a request for millions of dollars in damages.Attempts by CBS to contact the alleged distributors in the lawsuit were not immediately responded to.

Eric Adams is known to be a Democrat serving as the 110th mayor of New York City since 2022.In November 2013, Adams was elected borough president of Brooklyn, becoming the first African-American to hold the position, and was re-elected in November 2017.On November 17, 2020, Adams announced his candidacy for mayor of New York City and won a landslide victory in the general election.