New York City on Monday filed a federal lawsuit against nine of the largest nationwide distributors of disposable e-cigarettes.
The defendants are accused of distributing e-cigarettes with youth-attracting flavors, including pink lemonade, watermelon and banana ice, to sub-distributors in the city that then supply them to retail stores or sell them directly to consumers in New York City and around the country through online sales, the lawsuit claims.
This violates nearly every applicable federal, New York state and New York City law governing the sale of e-cigarettes, New York City Mayor Eric Adams (pictured above) and New York City Corporation Counsel Muriel Goode-Trufant said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. The defendants all have close relationships with e-cigarette manufacturers in China, the mayor said.
In 2020, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned flavored vape cartridges. Flavored e-cigarettes can only be legally sold if they receive authorization from the FDA by going through the premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) process. To date, the FDA has authorized 34 e-cigarette products and devices.
The distributors named in the lawsuit are:
- 10 Days, Inc. doing business as Pod Juice, Agoura Hills, California
- Evo Brands, Los Angeles, California
- Midwest Goods, Bensenville, Illinois
- Myle Vape, Ridgefield, New Jersey
- MVH I, Ridgefield, New Jersey
- Puff Bar, Glendale, California
- PVG2 doing business as “Puff Bar”, Los Angeles, California.
- Safa Goods, Port Charlotte, Florida
- SV3 doing business as Mi-One Brands, Phoenix, Arizona.
The lawsuit seeks to block these so-called “master distributors” from further sales of these illegal items into New York City and seeks both monetary damages and penalties, according to a statement from the mayor’s office.
“Nicotine addiction among middle and high school youth is exploding—fueled in large part to the targeting of our children,” Adams said.
The mayor said Monday’s lawsuit “not only builds on our previous two lawsuits against distributors and wholesalers but makes clear that we will do whatever it takes to keep our children safe and enforce the law when it comes to illegal vape sales.”
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the lawsuit alleges that the nine defendants violated the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act, a federal law that effectively bars the sale of any e-cigarettes except in face-to-face transactions. Defendants are also accused of violating New York Public Health Law, the New York City Administrative Code and the city’s public nuisance laws, the mayor’s office said.
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