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Mayor Bill de Blasio pledged his support on Wednesday to a series of initiatives to cut tobacco use, proposing to raise the minimum price of a pack of cigarettes in New York City to $13 and vowing to sharply reduce, over time, the number of stores that may sell tobacco products. Raising the minimum price of a pack to $13, from the current $10.50 minimum, would make New York the most expensive place in the nation to buy cigarettes, city officials said. (Neuman, 4/19)

That proposed local law is one part of a handful of legislative proposals city officials hope will work to reduce the number of smokers in the city by 160,000 over three years. Currently there are 900,000 smokers in the city, including 15,000 youths, according to figures from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. (West and Gay, 4/19)