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New York City to ban flavored cigars, says they tempt kids to start puffin' 

The city that led the country in banning smoking in bars, restaurants and most public spaces is about to ban the sale of flavored tobacco products.

A long-debated bill authorizing the flavored-tobacco ban was finally approved by the City Council last Wednesday, by a 46-to-1 vote. Mayor Bloomberg - who instigated the city's smoking crackdown in 2002 - said he will sign the bill into law soon.

The ban will likely kick in around February, and cost the city up to $2 million a year in lost sales tax revenues.

Advocates argued that although cigarette smoking continues to decrease, the sales of cigars and cigarillos have been rising, including those with candy-like flavors. The flavored smokes can lure teens into becoming addicted, Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan) said during the vote, and the ban is needed "to protect the children of New York City."

Michele Bonan, regional director of advocacy for the American Cancer Society, one of the groups pushing the ban, said flavored tobacco is "Big Tobacco's version of training wheels" to attract young smokers.

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