City is suing 11 firms, claiming e-cig violations

Officials announced Thursday that the city is suing 11 distributors of vaping devices, seeking to end their illegal distribution and create a fund to warn youngsters off nicotine.

The lawsuit, which was filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, accuses the companies of violating city and state public health laws around shipping e-cigarettes and selling flavored nicotine products, which are often marketed to kids.

“Nicotine addiction among middle and high school youth is exploding thanks in no small part to the actions of businesses like these 11 defendants,” Mayor Adams said Thursday in City Hall. “They target young people by using colorful, child-friendly cartoon character packaging on e-cigarettes.”

The city’s most recent lawsuit comes nearly a year after it sued four other vaping companies for millions of dollars in damages for violating an FDA ban on flavored vaping products.

The latest legal action centers on a city ban on selling flavored e-cigarettes and state law that prohibits the shipping of vape products intended for the consumption of nicotine unless the distributor has been issued a so-called “vape certificate.”

The lawsuit alleges that all 11 entities named as defendants do not posses such certification.

It goes on to allege that the companies dealt in flavored products.

Sylvia Hinds-Radix, the city’s corporation counsel, said that aside from the new lawsuit, the city is working with delivery services, including the U.S. Postal Service, to crack down on illegal deliveries into the city.

“City investigations reveal that, over the last two years, defendants have sold millions of dollars worth of flavored disposable e-cigarettes to resale stores throughout the city — and directly to consumers in the city through the internet, in violation of multiple federal, state and local laws,” she said. “These illegal sales are ongoing and need to be prevented.”

According to the suit, in July 2023 upstate-based Vape More sold e-cigarette brands such as Elf Bar and Lost Mary with flavors like Hawaii Punch, Lemon Ice and Strawberry Kiwi to a distributor in Woodside, Queens. When the city requested a list of the flavored e-cigs Vape More was sending to the city, the company failed to provide one.

Vape More did not immediately respond to a message.

Dorian Fuhrman, founder of the Parents Against Vaping e-cigarettes, described the city’s lawsuits as a “first step,” but said much more needs to be done.