A Quarter Ton Of Illegal Vapes Confiscated In Rensselaer County

Compliance checks ran by the Rensselaer County Department of Health in late October uncovered a massive supply of illegal nicotine products across the county.

Those products were confiscated, and helped give a lead to the department to stop the sale of these products permanently.

Nicotine Laws in New York

New York is one of six states that has banned the sale of flavored e-cigarettes and vapes. This was pushed through in May 2020 by Public Health Law Article 13-F Section 1399-MM-1 which bans the sale of flavored vapes that do not have an FDA marketing order.

In New York, every flavor, including Menthol, is banned, and electronic nicotine devices can only be flavored with tobacco. This was a part of sweeping reforms in 2020 that were enacted to discourage the youth from gaining a nicotine addiction.

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Bust in Rensselaer

On October 29th, seven businesses in Rensselaer County were inspected for a vape compliance check. Of those seven, only four were found in compliance with local and state regulations. The three that were not?

• My Mart – 90 Hoosick Street, Troy: Sold illegal nicotine vapes to an adult; deputies seized 209.19 pounds of flavored nicotine vapes.
• Sheba Grocery – 586 2nd Avenue, Troy: Sold tobacco products to a person under 21 years of age
• North Troy Convenience – 849 2nd Avenue, Troy: Sold flavored vape products to a person under 21 years of age; deputies seized 343.92 pounds of flavored nicotine vapes.

Between those three, 553.11 pounds of illegal flavored vapes were confiscated, and those businesses will now be held accountable.