Cigarettes Now Cost At Least $13 In NYC As Anti-Tobacco Bills Become Law

EAST FLATBUSH, BROOKLYN – Cigarettes now cost at least $13-a-pack in New York City as Mayor Bill de Blasio signed a package of anti-tobacco bills he described as "life-saving" into law Monday.

He said the laws, which include raising the price from $10.50, are aimed at getting 160,000 of the city’s 900,000 smokers to quit over the next three years.

"We’re not going to give in to smoking," de Blasio said at a press conference at Kings County Hospital in East Flatbush. "We’re not going to watch thousands of New Yorkers be afflicted ever year and continue with the status quo."

Here’s a breakdown of the bills:

• The law known as Int.1544 raises the minimum price of a pack of cigarettes from $10.50 to $13. That will make cigarettes here more expensive than anywhere else in the country, city officials previously said.

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• Int.1547 will gradually reduce the number of stores that can sell tobacco products. The law caps the number of tobacco licenses in each community board at half the current level, and no new licenses can be issued until that threshold is reached. The Health Department estimated that “through attrition,” there will be a 40 percent reduction in tobacco licenses over the next decade.

• Int.1532 addresses the rise in popularity of e-cigarettes. This bill creates an e-cig license separate from tobacco licenses. After an open enrollment period, no new stores will be allowed to sell e-cigarettes.

• Int.1131-A bans pharmacies from selling tobacco products. As of April, 550 pharmacies in the city sold cigarettes, according to the Health Department.

• Int.1585 requires residential buildings with three or more units to create smoking policies and share them with current and prospective residents. The Health Department said the information will help people avoid secondhand smoke.

"When we think about the health of New Yorkers, big tobacco is public enemy number one," de Blasio said. "It doesn't get as much attention, maybe, as it used to. But unquestionably, we continue this fight against big tobacco."

The laws continue the anti-tobacco campaign of former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who banned smoking in bars and restaurants, among other steps.

The Health Department says smoking rates dropped from 21.5 percent in 2002 to 14.3 percent in 2015. It says the anti-tobacco legislation will help the rate decrease to 12 percent.

Lead image via YouTube.