Kinney Drugs to stop selling electronic cigarettes and vaping products on Aug. 1

GOUVERNEUR, N.Y. — Kinney Drugs says it will no longer sell electronic cigarettes or vaping products in its New York retail stores as of Aug. 1.

The change already took effect in the company’s Vermont retail stores on Monday, Kinney Drugs said in a news release.

This decision is in response to “alarming” statistics demonstrating that teens and children are “increasingly” using these products, the company says. Kinney Drugs cites data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that indicates tobacco use among children grew nearly 38 percent in 2018 from 2017. That growth was “driven largely by a surge” in e-cigarette use, which increased 78 percent among high-school students and 48 percent among middle-school-aged children.

“We would like to thank Kinney Drugs for taking this important step,” Franklin Fry, executive director of the American Heart Association in Syracuse, said in the company’s release. “Actions like this can help prevent our children from starting a deadly habit.”

Founded in Gouverneur in St. Lawrence County in 1903, Kinney Drugs is an independent, employee-owned company that operates 98 stores throughout New York and Vermont. Kinney Drugs is part of the KPH Healthcare Services family of companies.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com