Town Of Hempstead Considers Banning Stores Near Schools, Parks And Playgrounds From Selling Vaping Products
ELMONT, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Tough, new vaping regulations are being proposed on Long Island.
One township wants to stop stores from selling all vaping products near schools and parks, CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff reported Monday.
Tiffany Capers is a mom on a mission.
"It's a school right there, there's a high school here, youth program there. Churches on both ends," said Capers, from Elmont.
Right in the middle, there's a smoke shop selling vaping products as teenagers pass by.
"Most of them walk down this block every single day," Capers said. "It doesn't have to be on our block, in our face."
Capers lobbied the Town of Hempstead. Now, the country's largest township is proposing a ban on all vape sales within 1,000 feet of a school, park or playground.
"They're putting them near these schools for a reason, folks. They're targeting these areas because they want to get them hooked on this stuff very, very young," said Hempstead Town Supervisor Don Clavin. "And this legislation is clearly going to take to task and address that."
New smoke or vape shops would have to be located in an industrial zone.
The legislation comes as teen vaping is on the decline. According to an FDA/CDC 2020 youth survey, 1.8 million fewer teens are using addictive e-cigarettes than last year. But 3.6 million still are.
"Serious lung damage, serious cardiovascular problems, other complications that we don't know yet because we haven't studied nicotine delivery devices on human beings," said Town of Hempstead Medical Director Dr. Dave Neubert.
Despite New York State's ban on flavored e-cigs, it's not a fad that's fading fast.
"It's very discrete. It's easy to use. It's easy to hide from mom and dad," said Kevin Dougherty, principal of Elmont Memorial High School.
Critics say stores that only sell vape products and are located near schools will fold.
"We've had enough businesses close during this pandemic. We don't need to see more of them," said Spike Babaian of the New York State Vapor Association, which says young people would simply find nicotine elsewhere.
"If it's available in the most deadly and harmful forms, that's where they're going to end up," Babaian said.
The public can weigh in on the two proposals at a public hearing on March 23.
Smoke shops would then have until Oct. 1 to stop selling the products near schools and parks.