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PEABODY — A proposed generational tobacco sale ban for the city was tabled after a two-and-a-half hour public hearing Thursday night featuring those on both sides of the issue from around the state.
The ordinance before the Board of Health aimed to ban the sale of tobacco products in Peabody to anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 2004.
But with city councilors and local retailers showing up to oppose the measure, Board of Health Director Sharon Cameron suggested the Board work with local tobacco retailers to create an industry-led, self-regulation program around tobacco products.
“Throughout my 20 years in local public health, we have always been two steps behind the tobacco industry…” Cameron said following public comment Thursday. “Let’s ask the retail tobacco industry to partner with us in a meaningful way to reduce the rates of kids initiating tobacco use.”
Such a program could include training on tobacco policies and how to spot illegal tobacco products, like flavored goods that are sometimes sold to retailers in falsely labeled packages with documentation that they are legal, Cameron said.
The program could set up a tobacco retailer certification similar to what restaurants have for certified food managers, along with compliance checks retailers could conduct themselves. The program could also include protocols created by retailers and the Board for assessing tobacco products for illegal gimmicks like being flavored.
The Board adopted language to clarify its current discipline policies for retailers who violate tobacco sale laws and voted to initiate this program over the next year or two. And, if the program isn’t effective, to revisit regulations like the ban discussed Thursday.
That proposal is similar to a “nicotine-free generation” measure Brookline passed in 2020 that banned the sale of such items to anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 2000, a law that was upheld by the Supreme Judicial Court earlier this year.
Since then, such laws have been proposed and hotly debated statewide in communities like Groton, Lexington and Medford, and passed in nearly 10 communities including Wakefield, Melrose, Stoneham and Reading, among others.
Opponents who spoke Thursday said the ban would fuel a black market and harm convenience stores while creating two classes of citizens. The concerns came from local convenience store owners, adult tobacco use rights activists, Peabody residents and citizens from other communities where this type of ban has been presented.
“I oppose this policy because it proposes to restrict the freedom of adults to choose,” Cambridge resident Emily Wieja said at Thursday’s meeting. “We allow adult consumers to choose addictive substances and practices like alcohol, marijuana and modern gambling. It’s ridiculous to propose a complete ban on tobacco.”
A generational tobacco ban isn’t the first major reform on tobacco Massachusetts has seen in recent years. A statewide flavored tobacco ban was passed on Beacon Hill in 2019 and the national minimum tobacco sales age was also raised from 18 to 21 that year.
Carlos Cesar owns a convenience store and gas station on Route 1. He told the Board of Health Thursday these tighter regulations on tobacco sales have cost his business $60,000 in tobacco revenue over the last several years.
“This will directly impact our sales, our livelihood, our doing business, and it will affect us,” added Arthur Hiu, owner of A&L Liquors in Peabody Square.
Peabody City Councilors Dave Gamache, Anne Manning-Martin, Stephanie Peach and Julie Daigle also spoke Thursday against adopting the ban.
They too said it would hurt convenience stores and would turn Peabody into an island among communities that still allow the sale of these products to everyone over age 21.
The ban also doesn’t address youth tobacco use directly, they said, despite that being part of the law’s reason for being adopted in other communities. They argued it would be more effective to tackle this issue through better enforcement and education, rather than a regulation like this.
Tobacco use among high schoolers has declined from 23.9% in 2009 to 11.4% in 2017, according to data from the state. That same year, the percent of high schoolers smoking cigarettes in the state hit a low of 6.4%.
But e-cigarette use increased 900% among high school students between 2011 and 2016. Since then, the use of vape pens and other newer, non-conventional tobacco products have gained popularity among youth.
The three most common ways youth obtain tobacco products is from friends, a family member or a tobacco permit holding establishment, said Laura Nash, an epidemiologist with the North Shore Public Health Collaborative.
That’s why it’s time to push for a “tobacco free generation” through bans like this, supporters said.
Board of Health member Julia Fleet was in favor of pushing through the ban Thursday and was the sole member on the three-person board to vote against tabling it.
Not adopting the ban now means the city is losing time in the fight to curb tobacco use, she said.
“The ultimate goal for public health is that phasing out tobacco sales is to the benefit of our population as a whole,” Fleet said.
Attorney Mark Gottlieb defended the Brookline law before the SJC. He said at Thursday’s meeting that no convenience stores in Brookline had closed since the policy was enacted three years ago.
“While for some the nicotine-free generation idea may seem radical or a step too far, they may actually be in the minority,” he said, citing a 2023 CDC study that found the majority of Americans favor a policy to ban the sale of all tobacco products.
Gottlieb has been joined by doctors and activists in encouraging local health boards around Massachusetts to pass generational tobacco ban rules over the last several months.
As for Peabody becoming an island, Mass General Hospital pediatrician Jonathan Winickoff told the Board that won’t be the case.
“The (tobacco) industry shuts down state level action unless a lot of towns come together first and take courageous action…” he said. “Once the momentum gets going, as it is for (generational bans), it won’t be long… I think before town by town, if Peabody takes this action, that we will be on a level playing field.”
Contact Caroline Enos at CEnos@northofboston.com
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By Caroline Enos | Staff Writer
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