VAping

Lawmakers in the New York state Assembly have voted to raise the smoking age from 18 to 21.

With new restrictions being proposed for the sale of e-cigarettes in New York, the vaping industry fought back Friday. Store owners, workers and others rallied in downtown Buffalo to present their side of the story.

What role does flavor play in e-cigarettes? How does it impact our health and our behavior? Those are a couple of the questions researchers at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and University of Rochester Medical Center will be investigating over the next five years thanks to a $19 million federal grant.

Federal officials called it a blitz — “the largest coordinated enforcement effort in the FDA’s history” in response to concerns that e-cigarette use has become an “epidemic” among youths.

Sen. Chuck Schumer says the Food and Drug Administration should immediately ban e-cigarette flavors like candy and cookies that can appeal to young people in the wake of warnings that teens and children are increasingly using e-cigarettes.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed legislation that bans electronic cigarettes from places in New York State where smoking tobacco is already prohibited.

Going to a baseball game this season? Leave your cigarettes at home.

Smokers who switch from traditional tobacco cigarettes to electronic cigarettes may ingest the same level of nicotine, but their exposure to harmful chemicals is significantly reduced - so much so that it is like the person quit smoking. Those are the results of new research from Roswell Park Cancer Institute.

Electronic cigarettes may expose users to a potentially harmful chemical. A research team led by Dr. Maciej Goniewicz, of Roswell Park Cancer Institute, found that benzaldehyde, a food flavoring, can irritate the respiratory tract.

An issue described as a technical error meant the Erie County Legislature could not vote Thursday on electronic cigarette regulations and has to go back through the entire process.

"Vaping" is now banned in the same places tobacco smoking is banned in the City of Buffalo. The new law, passed by the Common Council on Tuesday, was quickly signed by Mayor Byron Brown.

The NFTA is taking steps to eliminate the use of e-cigarettes on its buses and trains.