Starting today, shopkeepers in New Hampshire will be required to sell self-extinguishing cigarettes.
A new state law requiring “fire-safe” cigarettes goes into effect today.
The law was passed in May 2006, but retailers were given some lead time to switch over. Shops will be allowed to sell the remainder of their regular cigarettes but new shipments must bear the fire-safe seal.
Fire safe cigarettes are designed not to burn unless a smoker inhales. The National Fire Protection Association says cigarettes are the number one cause of fire related deaths
New York was the first state to require fire-safe cigarettes in 2004. Since then more than 20 states have followed suit, including New Hampshire, which in 2006 become the fifth state to pass a fire-safe cigarette law.