ALBANY -- Vaping and electronic cigarettes will be banned starting Wednesday at work, in bars and at restaurants.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill last month that extends New York's indoor smoking ban to vaporizer products.
The law takes effect Wednesday, which on Thanksgiving eve is one of the busiest bar nights of the year.
“I am proud to have sponsored this legislation which will make restaurants and other indoor areas vape free, protecting workers and patrons who do not wish to be exposed to the various chemicals contained in electronic cigarettes,” Senate Health Committee chairman Kemp Hannon, R-Nassau County, said in a statement.
With the new law, electronic cigarettes and similar vaping products will now be banned from uses in public areas like bars, restaurants and in the workplace in the same ways that traditional cigarettes are prohibited are under the Clean Indoor Air Act.
Electric cigarettes do not contain tobacco like in traditional cigarettes and cigars. E-cigarettes heat up a liquid form of nicotine and give off a vapor instead of smoke.
According to the legislation passed in June, there is too little known about the chemicals that make up the liquid nicotine and all of the effects they can have on individuals.
The Food and Drug Administration found that e-cigarettes can be dangerous. In a study, the agency found that users of e-cigarettes inhale toxic chemicals like diethylene, which is one of the ingredients in antifreeze. Some brands of liquid nicotine were found to have 10 times the amount of carcinogens as traditional cigarettes.
Banning electronic cigarettes in public places also reduces the amount of second-hand vapor that non-smokers will be exposed to, advocates said.
“For too long the lack of information about the potential dangers of electronic cigarettes has left smokers and non-smokers at risk,” said Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan, R-Suffolk County, in a statement.
Vaping had previously been banned indoors in some counties, including Rockland, Tompkins and Westchester.
New York joins other three states and 170 municipalities that have banned vaping in public spaces.
In 2016, New York banned minors under the age of 18 from buying e-cigarettes.