BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - New York State continues to balance its aggressive push against the vaping industry while maintaining its support for the legalization of marijuana.
For weeks, the state has pushed back against e-cigarettes and tried to ban flavored cartridges in an effort to curb its use amongst young people. Small vape-business owners were aghast at the proposed ban, warning that it would ruin their business. The vaping ban was ultimately put on hold by the state in the court, temporarily allowing continued sales of the product.
A recent opinion piece by Kris Krane that was featured in Forbes suggested that legalizing cannabis is the answer to vaping products.
"Their brains and bodies are still developing," Hochul said. "Unfortunately, that's the clientele that the vaping companies have been targeting: Children. My niece in middle school, everybody she talks to says they're vaping in middle school. I view the discussion of legal marijuana for adults, which will come up in the legislature...as independent from the urgency we're feeling right now."
Individuals in the vaping industry have claimed that illnesses and deaths have been the result of black market products, such as marijuana, that have been utilized with e-cigarettes. Hochul said health officials are now starting to see chemical burns in throats that were unrelated to whether it was a legal or illegal substance.
"This is an uncharted territory," she said. "There's a rush to market for profit reasons only. They're now purveying this substance, which is now causing medical effects that are only now being uncovered."