Vote NO on the BAN OF THE SALE OF FLAVORED E-LIQUID (S428/A47)

To whom it may concern,

As a former X-smoker for going on 10 years now in October and having now been in Vapor business for 8 years as one of the first retail Vape Shops in all of New York, I must speak my mind and the truth about what will happen if these laws pass and go into effect. These bills in place are ludicrous and will devastate the industry, consumers and Vaping/Electronic Cigarettes as a whole. This will force thousands if not millions of people currently using Vape products in New York State to go back to conventional cigarettes putting their health at dior risk. I watched this industry grow and succeed to save peoples lives moving away from deadly combustible cigarettes. We have many customers who are over the age of 60 and these bills in place would harm these individuals way of life as taking away flavors which got them away from conventional cigarettes in the first place. Putting any kind of Wholesale tax, Flavor ban, Discounts on products ban would put all Vape Shops out of business 1000%. I watched this industry grow and take great pride and support keeping Vape products out of the hands of teens and in the years i been in business we have done so with no fines or actions against us.

My Vape Shop is located in Flushing, Queens and i also was born and raised here and actually was in the same classes and school as Congresswoman Grace Meng. My own mother is now turning 71 years old this week and has been off of 2 packs a day cigarettes for more then 8 years. She was at the beginning stages of emphysema and going down hill till she made the switch to Vaping and my mother is back in excellent health no cancer signs or anything. She was a menthol smoker as i once was and would never since we started vaping even want to go back to menthol or a tobacco taste in our mouths. If there is a problem with the way the flavored E-Liquids in the market are marketed to pushed onto teens then instead of all these bills in place it would have been best to enforce manufactures on label/product bans rather then flavor bans that will crumble the industry, force me personally into bankruptcy put so many lives and shops in danger. I am a mom pop store and have 3 employees. I have a family, wife and 8 year old daughter who rely on me to keep our family safe and not in the streets by running a legit business that should be respected much more then it is. I watched many people die of cancer the past few years because of smoking. This the the future of technology and has been in place for a pretty good amount of time now. You should be looking to help adults make it easier to purchase products in this day and age rather then force shutdown and total economic collapse regarding E-Cigs in New York. I would like to get some type of reply to my email to make sure whoever reads this gets my points. There is so much more on the table then anyone can possibly think and i hope you all do the right thing and either void or let go of these bills in place.

If you would like a guinea pig to test on i can do so for you. Like i said i started vaping in October 2009 and haven't touched a single cigarette since nor will i ever. I have a clean bill of health to prove this by my physician. No one ever has died from the inhalation of E-Cigs and i can do things that when i was a smoker could not at all. Take this technology away from the hands of millions of New Yorker's and even this will hurt tourism greatly as well if they don't have access to to these products. Please rip and shred these bills up. It will do so much more harm then good. Please i beg of you to listen and push this aside once and for all!

Sincerely,

Keith Mautner

"Consumer and Vape Shop Owner"

No to - S428 (Sponsor - Hoylman) Would ban the sale of all flavored e-liquid except tobacco and menthol. We oppose this because it will put vape shops out of business. 86% of vapers use flavored e-liquid to keep them from smoking.