ALBANY — Democratic lawmakers want to ban the sale of single-use cigarette filters, commonly known as “butts,” in the state’s latest effort to rein in the tobacco industry.
“Cigarette butts are everywhere — littering our streets, our parks, and our waterways, and spreading plastic pollution and toxic chemicals into our environment and our food supply,” bill sponsor state Sen. Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan) said in a statement.
“The evidence is clear that in spite of all the Big Tobacco propaganda, filters do not make cigarettes any safer, and they may in fact make cigarettes even more deadly.”
A 2017 National Cancer Institute study said the Food and Drug Administration should “consider regulating” and even ban the use of filters.
The ban would also extend to attachable butts for electronic cigarettes.
“Evidence suggests that ventilated filters may have contributed to higher risks of lung cancer by enabling smokers to inhale more vigorously, thereby drawing carcinogens contained in cigarette smoke more deeply into lung tissue,” a 2014 report from the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Surgeon General said.
Environmentalists also warn the butts pose a significant issue when smokers puff and litter — as most filters are made of a type of non-biodegradable plastic called cellulose acetate.
If the legislation is passed, the ban would take effect on Jan. 1, 2022.
It’s the latest effort to clamp down on the tobacco industry. Gov. Andrew Cuomo is including a measure that would crack down on untaxed cigarette sellers who peddle illegally to avoid New York’s high tax rate on the product.
The state also raised the legal purchasing age for tobacco and e-cigarette products to 21 in November.