NEW YORK – The Wall Street Journal reports that retailers across New York City are grappling with new regulations designed to make it more difficult for adults to buy cigarettes.
The new rules are being rolled out over the year, and involve a “barrage of changes” in the licenses necessary for retailers, according to Max Bookman, a lawyer who represents the New York City Newsstand Operators Association.
The first change that takes place this month will raise the biennial fee from the $110 currently charged for a cigarette retail dealer license, to $200 for the new tobacco retail dealer license that includes all types of tobacco sales. The Journal notes that on February 24, no applications will be accepted by the city for new cigarette retail dealer licenses, which shuts out anyone who wants to sell tobacco in the future.
“The consequence of screwing up the paperwork for some folks is you don’t get to sell tobacco anymore,” Bookman told the news source. The new regulations were signed into law last August by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and designed to reduce the number of tobacco retail licenses across the city by half.
Businesses will also need a separate license for electronic cigarettes with all applications due April 25, of which a business will need to prove it was selling electronic cigarettes on or before August 28, 2017, to receive a license. Starting August 23, 2018, it will be illegal to sell electronic cigarettes without a license, and no pharmacies or businesses containing pharmacies will be allowed to sell electronic cigarettes.
On June 1, 2018, the price of a pack of cigarettes will jump to at least $13 in New York City, the highest price for cigarettes in the nation. Right now, New Yorkers have a minimum per price pack of $10.50 for cigarettes.
“These measures will destroy the business investment of retailers who have been leading the effort to prevent youth access to tobacco products, and the result will be lost revenue, lost jobs and an increasing number of sales in unregulated and illegal settings,” Jim Calvin, president of the New York Association of Convenience Stores, previously told ABC News.