Nick Reisman reports at New York State of Politics that tobacco usage among middle and high school students in New York is dropping, with less vaping and e-cigarette usage in recent years after a ban on flavored vaping products. That news comes from a new report released this week by the state Department of Health. Also, the New York Youth Tobacco Survey recently found that E-cigarette usage declined 32 percent, from 27.4 percent of students in 2018 to 18.7 percent in 2022. And an annual telephone survey of adult New Yorkers found smoking dropped from 14.1 percent to 12 percent between 2017 and 2021. Last month legislators and the governor agreed to raise New York's cigarette tax by $1 as part of the $229 billion state budget. Dr. Jennifer Lee, the director of the Bureau of Tobacco Control, said, "We have the highest and strongest tobacco tax in the country and we are able to really understand that will have a big impact." Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.