New York City hikes price of cigarette packs to a minimum of $13, the highest in US

Mayor Bill de Blasio signed a law Monday raising the minimum price for a pack of cigarettes to $13 in New York City

The increase, which takes effect on June 1, 2018, will make New York the most expensive US city to buy cigarettes

De Blasio signed package of anti-smoking bills Monday at Kings County Hospital
Another bill gradually reduces by half the number of licenses issued to retailers to sell tobacco products

Pharmacies will be banned from selling cigarettes starting on January 1, 2019
Opponents of the price increase say it has pushed many smokers into buying untaxed, unregulated cigarettes on the black market