NYC asks judge to immediately snuff out illegal vape wholesalers
The Adams administration has asked a Manhattan judge to step in and immediately squash the selling of illegal, flavored vapes by 11 wholesalers in New York.
The city filed suit against the wholesalers in April, citing data that kids and teens are getting hooked on the flavored e-cigarettes at alarming rates.
Now the city’s lawyers say they need a preliminary injunction to force the illegal, flavored vape peddlers to quit their noxious practices immediately.
“While we have already filed a lawsuit to hold these distributors accountable for their actions, the motion we have filed will help us ensure that they can no longer peddle this poison to our children while this case is being litigated,” Adams said in a statement after the request for an injunction was filed Monday.
The city’s lawsuit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, claims that the 11 wholesalers – located in Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island and upstate New York – are accused of selling the vapes in violation of local, state and federal law.
“Flavored e-cigarettes are the gateway to nicotine addiction. Eighty-one percent of first-time users ages 12 to 17 started with flavored products,” Hizzoner said in April.
“Nicotine addiction among middle- and high-school youth is exploding thanks in no small part to the actions of businesses like these 11 defendants,” Adams said.
Court records show that city investigators were able to directly place orders from the wholesalers.
The probers also were able uncover sales invoices from vape distributors in the city, the documents show.
The preliminary injunction does not appear to claim that products had been purchased by investigators since the filing of the suit in April — but it does note that the sellers’ websites still list the illegal flavors.
In addition to blocking the vape peddlers from getting kids hooked on nicotine – with flavors including Strawberry Colada and Blueberry Energize – the suit seeks unspecified damages and penalties.
The case is a companion to the city’s pending 2023 federal lawsuit, which already names two of the wholesalers and seeks millions of dollars in damages.
In February, a poll showed New Yorkers giving law enforcement poor marks when it came to enforcing the law against illegal vape sellers, with 53 percent saying officials were only doing a “fair” or “poor” job enforcing the ban.
Lawyers representing the sued vape sellers did not immediately reply for Post requests for comment.
