Bloomberg Soda Ban: Is Ban On Cigarettes Next For NYC Mayor?

Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I-NYC) has his sights on yet another popular vice after going to war with soft drinks: tobacco products. In a first-in-the-nation move, the third-term chief executive of America's largest city proposed legislation requiring merchants to hide displays of tobacco products.

Citing the 7,000 New Yorkers who allegedly die yearly from tobacco-related illnesses, Mayor Bloomberg said his bill will reduce the amount of youth who become engaged in smoking or snuffing tobacco.

"Such displays suggest that smoking is a normal activity, and they invite young people to experiment with tobacco," Bloomberg said, noting similar Canadian and Icelandic initiatives he said were vital in lowering the numbers of smokers in those countries.

While the bill would not ban the substance, as his much-flaunted soda ban would prohibit the sale of large quantities of soft drinks in certain establishments, a ban on tobacco would have a measurable impact on everyday commerce.

The New York Times cited the fact that many small businesses, including bodegas and ethnic grocers make a sizeable amount of their income off tobacco sales (and soft drinks for that matter), and putting cigarettes out of sight of customers would put a dent in their bottom line.

Smoking is already illegal in most city parks and recreational areas. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, D, a 2013 mayoral contender, somewhat criticized the soda ban, saying she would have gone about the initiative differently. Quinn sided with Bloomberg today, saying she is "very open" to the tobacco display ban.

Bloomberg's "Sensible Tobacco Enforcement" bill includes the following, according to WNYW: a minimum price for cigarettes at $10.50 per pack, prohibition of coupons and discounts for tobacco products and increasing penalties on merchants who illegally sell tobacco without licenses.

In 2002, Bloomberg successfully sought the prohibition of smoking in dining establishments in New York City. Detractors and critics have locked onto his multiple health-conscious initiatives, nicknaming him "Nanny" Bloomberg.

Last week, Judge Milton Tingling struck down the soda ban, which Bloomberg and his team are in the process of appealing. There is no word on any similar lawsuits that would surface if the Sensible Tobacco Enforcement bill is passed and enacted.