City Council Member Rita Joseph and a broad coalition of advocates are making a new concerted push for a bill that would ban the sale of menthol cigarettes in the Big Apple, with a pair of new digital ads highlighting the stories of those who’ve lost relatives to smoking-related diseases.
Joseph, a Democrat representing parts of central Brooklyn, first introduced the bill — Int. 0577 — last July and referred it to the council Committee on Health, but it hasn’t moved further along in the lawmaking process since then. The legislation would ban the sale of menthol, mint and wintergreen flavored cigarettes within the five boroughs, in a bid to lower the number of children who are enticed to smoke by flavored cigarettes.
