NYC sheriffs say Hochul’s proposal to ban menthol cigarettes will only spur black market

Top State Law Enforcement Group Wants to Repeal Gov. Hochul’s Planned Ban on Menthol Cigarettes and Other Flavored Tobacco While Raising a $1 Tobacco Tax, Claiming It Will Fuel the Black Market, It Will Be Hard to Enforce and That It Will Hurt Police-Community Relations . .

The unusual response comes from the New York State Sheriff’s Association, which responded in a February 15 letter to Hohulu, a copy of which was obtained by The Post.

A group representing the city’s sheriff’s office and other agencies across the state cited a study that found more than half of the cigarettes smoked in New York are smuggled in, draining $1 billion in tax revenue and violating tobacco laws.

“We believe the proposed flavored tobacco ban and excise tax increase will only exacerbate this problem and generate hundreds of millions of dollars in additional illicit profits for criminals and criminal organizations,” wrote Hochul, Sheriff’s Association executive director Peter Kehoe.

“Our many years of experience shows that criminal activity is always associated with any black market. Any further increase in crime will be a burden on our already strained resources.”

Hochul’s proposed ban comes as the state’s lax law legalizing marijuana, and as the city’s sheriff’s office struggles to stop the illegal sale of marijuana and other cannabis products in smokehouses, including through direct appeals for help to Mayor Adams.

Cigarette salesmen accused Hole of double standards—offering a ban on flavored tobacco and allowing the sale of fruit-flavored marijuana. New York City has banned the sale of flavored vaping products.

Kehoe argues that the fight against “new types of contraband, which until now were widely available and accepted by society” will only cause new friction with the public.

“Relations between the police and the public are still in a delicate state. Verification of citizens and businesses
institutions, for what many would likely consider to be a common vice, could exhaust the remaining goodwill of law enforcement towards the people,” the letter says.

This position is consistent with that of Gwenn Carr, Eric Garner’s mother, who died in 2014 after an NYPD officer used an illegal chokehold on her during her arrest on suspicion of illegally selling cigarettes in Staten Island. Carr argues that the ban could lead to more “unforeseen consequences”.

Kehoe also said that the Massachusetts ban on flavored tobacco was offset by increased tobacco sales in neighboring New Hampshire and Rhode Island, causing a “significant black market” in Bay State.

In the letter, sheriffs urged Hochul to lift the proposed ban and work with law enforcement “to develop targeted strategies to combat the existing illegal tobacco trade” that “undermines public health policy by selling cheap and unregulated tobacco” to New York City and its youth. .

Powerful Assembly Majority Leader Crystal People-Stokes, a Buffalo Democrat and a group of black ministers also oppose the ban, preferring an education campaign to stop smoking.

But Hazel Dukes, president of the state chapter of the NAACP, has joined anti-smoking advocates supporting Hole’s ban, arguing that the tobacco industry has been targeting the black community for decades with cancer-causing menthol smoke.

Hole’s office says the ban is life-saving because it keeps people addicted to sweet smoke.

The Governor is also proposing to raise the tax on a pack of cigarettes from $4.35 to $5.35.

“Because tobacco use is a leading cause of preventable death, Governor Hochul is paving the way for a tobacco-free generation to reduce youth smoking and prevent needless deaths. As with any budget proposal, we will be working with the legislature on the final details for the best way to protect public health,” said Hochul spokeswoman Hazel Crampton-Hayes.

The proposed ban is expected to reduce the number of young people who smoke by 9%, prevent 22,000 children from becoming adult smokers and reduce premature mortality.

The governor’s office also said the ban would be a civil penalty imposed by local health departments and, in the city, by the Department of Consumer Affairs and Worker Protection, not law enforcement.

While the proposal aims to reduce the use of the products, it won’t make it illegal to possess, buy or use flavored tobacco products, but will instead target retailers who sell them, Hochul’s aides say.

Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in New York and the United States. In 2020, 22.5% of young people used e-cigarettes. Statistics show that each year approximately 4,300 New Yorkers under the age of 18 become daily smokers.

About 280,000 New Yorkers under the age of 18 are projected to die prematurely from smoking, and another 28,200 New Yorkers adults die each year from smoking.