De Blasio Announces Plan To Raise Base Price Of Pack Of Cigarettes To $13
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a package of bills Wednesday aimed at drastically reducing the city's smoking population over the next four years.
There are still 900,000 smokers in the five boroughs, the mayor said.
The city is proposing to raise the minimum price for a pack of cigarettes to $13 from $10.50 and add a 10 percent tax on other tobacco products.
The bills will reduce the number of tobacco retailers, license those selling electronic cigarettes and cap their numbers. They will also ban the sale of tobacco products in pharmacies and require all residential buildings to post smoking rules, WCBS 880's Rich Lamb reported.
"The goal overall, this package, is to reduce the number of smokers by 160,000 by the year 2020," the mayor said.
Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Basset added the aim is to make it harder to start smoking and easier to quit.