Board of Health Considers an End to Nicotine Sales

November 4, 2024
• Over the last few months, the Board of Health has discussed whether to institute a new approach to combating nicotine use amongst youth.

Needham’s Board of Health is considering a new policy that would restrict and eventually outright ban the sale of nicotine products in town.

If implemented, the Nicotine-Free Generation would cut off the sale of nicotine products to those born after Jan. 1, 2004 in an attempt to limit younger generations’ exposure to the drug. With an affirmative vote, that would likely take effect Jan. 1 of next year. The policy would eventually end the sale of tobacco products entirely.

The Board of Health continued its public hearing on the topic last month and may vote on the policy at its next meeting Nov. 22. The policy would amend the Regulation Affecting Smoking and the Sale and Distribution of Tobacco Products in Needham.

While the measure may seem “radical,” surveys and health data point to its favorability and effectiveness, said Mark Gottlieb, the executive director of the Public Health Advocacy Institute at Northeastern University School of Law. There is significant support for a tobacco product ban, Gottlieb told the BoH Oct. 8.

A generational ban on the sale of tobacco would minimize lung cancer deaths among younger people, Gottlieb said, and the demand for such products would reduce because those children won’t be introduced to them at all. People under 21 years old now may rely on older peers to obtain tobacco products, but when the minimum age progressively increases, that will change, Gottlieb said.

“With fewer older peers modeling tobacco product use as a result of this proposed policy, it can be expected to contribute, I think, to a reduced tobacco initiation by middle and high school populations,” Gottlieb said.

Six establishments in Needham actively sell nicotine products, but none of them have provided input or commentary on the proposed policy, said Timothy McDonald, the director of Needham’s Department of Health and Human Services. The department did reach out to those businesses via email, McDonald said.

Despite that, feedback on the Nicotine-Free Generation from Needham stakeholders has been generally positive, McDonald said. Local supporters include Needham Public Schools Superintendent Dan Gutekanst, Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Needham President John Fogarty and Alan Stern of Needham Pediatrics.

The board has received “hundreds and hundreds” of emails from people across the state against the concept, McDonald said, though few have come from Needham residents.

One such opponent is Peter Brennan, the executive director of New England Convenience Store and Energy Marketers Association. At the BoH’s last meeting, Brennan said using tobacco is an “adult choice” and a ban on its sale would hurt retailers.

“We think that adults do have the right to make their own choices about the products they consume and what they put into their bodies,” Brennan said.

Advocates argue retailers will have an adjustment period, as the policy would phase out sales over several years.

In her role as the Melrose tobacco inspection coordinator, Maureen Buzby said she’s witnessed the evolution of nicotine products over the years, from traditional cigarettes to e-cigarettes to high-potency pouches and bubble gum.

While a pack of Marlboros contains 24 milligrams of nicotine, some single nicotine pouches — often placed along the gums — can contain 2-9 milligrams each, Buzby said. Despite restrictions on age and flavor, Buzby said the products are adapting. She brought several products to the BoH to illustrate her point.

“But we continue to see new products, cheap products, discreet products, products designed to attract young users,” Buzby told the BoH.

Buzby added that smoking was once acceptable in restaurants and on planes, suggesting that Needham join the movement to further restrict nicotine use.

Needham led the charge in 2005 as the first town in the country to adopt Tobacco 21, which restricted the sale of tobacco products to people 21 years and older. The town has also banned flavored tobacco — in 2015 — and restricted electronic nicotine delivery systems in 2018 and 2019.

“That doesn’t mean someone can’t go to the next community and buy tobacco products,” McDonald said in an interview, “but we found, and especially Tobacco 21 provided strong evidence for, that extra inconvenience dissuades people.”

Brookline recently passed its own Nicotine-Free Generation policy, which was upheld by the Massachusetts Supreme Court. Malden, Melrose, Reading, Stoneham, Wakefield and Winchester have all approved the policy, and it’s also being considered in Lexington, Marlborough and other communities.

If approved, the policy would be phased in. McDonald said they would, in part, issue a public notice and work with permitted nicotine retailers to institute new signage and training materials.

The Planning Board took no position on the policy at its last meeting, and neither did the Council on Economic Advisors, although several of its members appeared to oppose it. The Select Board plans to discuss the policy at its next meeting Nov. 12.

One benefit of the NFG is that it doesn’t strip anyone’s right to purchase nicotine, McDonald said, as the age would only affect those who already cannot purchase those products. Science also suggests that people under the age of 26 cannot fully process potential risks, McDonald said, and nicotine use can lead to long-term health consequences.

Opponents, however, argue that 18-year-olds are adults and can make their own choices, he added.

“There are reasons on both sides to do it, and reasons to slow down and decide whether it is the right approach,” McDonald said. “And I think that’s part of the reason the board has taken this many months considering it publicly, getting public input before it makes a decision.”