Starting next year, those who want to buy tobacco products, including cigarettes and e-cigarettes in Massachusetts, must be at least 21 to buy them legally. „Brookline doesn`t control the tobacco market,“ Silbaugh admits. But individual cities have already helped spark big changes. More than a decade ago, Needham, Ma., a town less than 10 miles from Brookline, became the first place in the country to raise the legal age to sell tobacco to 21. It is now a federal law. The plastic bag ban also started at the local level before being passed by some states. George Philippides, chief of cardiology at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, said in a statement released by the American Heart Association: „Raising the age of sale of tobacco products to 21 will help counter the tobacco industry`s relentless efforts to attract young people at a time when many are shifting from experimenting with tobacco to regular smoking.“ In theory, laws setting a minimum age to buy tobacco serve the same purpose — but „for laws to work, they need to align with the psychology of those affected,“ Berrick says. There, in his eyes, the laws on the age of purchase collapsed. They made smoking appear acceptable for people of a certain age, when in reality it was dangerous for everyone.
Perhaps worse, these laws (with the help of industry advertising) made tobacco look like something mature and adult, something that would appeal to teenagers who wanted to be those things too. The vast majority of smokers start smoking at age 18, suggesting to Berrick that current approaches to prevention among young people were not working. Around the same time, a separate group of researchers published a paper in the journal Tobacco Control. They proposed essentially the same idea: phasing out the legal sale of tobacco to all people born after January 1, 2000, with the aim of phasing out the costs of tobacco-related drug addiction, illness, death and health care. MGL c.111, § 72X All nursing homes must have non-smoking areas. Employees are not allowed to smoke in patient care areas. Co-author A.J. Berrick, a math teacher who joined the tobacco control movement out of self-interest, believed that any successful tobacco control policy should prevent young people from becoming addicted, rather than convincing current users to undertake the notoriously difficult process of quitting smoking. Massachusetts` smoke-free workplace law prohibits smoking in schools, restaurants and bars, taxis, private offices and other workplaces. This Act (MGL Chapter 270, Section 22, „A Public Health Improvement Act in the Commonwealth“) came into force on July 5, 2004 to protect employees and the public from second-hand smoke and to amend the Massachusetts Clean Indoor Air Act of 1988.
Federal smoking laws govern federal buildings, federal courts, military installations and aircraft. However, it`s not yet clear if this can even work in Brookline, one of the most progressive cities in one of the most progressive states in the country, where tobacco is an integral part of the local culture and economy. If the challengers and legal critics of the regulation win, or if the impact of the law proves minimal, the idea could fade, vanishing like a booted cigarette. The law also regulates e-cigarettes – raising the age of purchase of e-cigarettes to 21, banning e-cigarette smoking on school campuses and retirement homes, banning the sale of vaping products in vending machines, and requiring nicotine and tobacco products to be packaged in child-resistant containers. MGL c.272, § 43A No smoking on public transport or in train stations Local health authorities conduct retail inspections to determine whether required tobacco sales permits and/or signs are posted and whether stores illegally sell tobacco products in self-service displays or vending machines. It wasn`t an instant success either. The city council did not recommend passage of the ordinance because it had concerns about local business owners and the discomfort of preventing some adults from purchasing a legal product almost anywhere in the United States. Even Swannie Jett, who resigned as Brookline`s director of health and social services (for other reasons) in September, opposed the plan because he felt the petitioners had not sufficiently considered its potential impact on businesses and the public. Jett also questioned whether such a dramatic approach was necessary in a city where a single-digit percentage of residents smoke.
Eventually, she and her then-husband, Paul Nolfo, who works in drug prevention, came up with a solution: a deadline after which no one would age in the legal purchase of tobacco. Those who were already smoking legally could go about their business, while young people who (hopefully) had not yet smoked their first cigarette would never do so. Although it may seem so, it is not entirely implausible that tobacco is heading for a similar fate. There is fairly strong public support for sunset laws. In a recent study of Australian adults, just over half – and nearly 32% of current smokers – said they would support a possible exit from cigarette sales. In addition to their policy proposed by the Transitional Federal Government, New Zealand lawmakers have pledged to make their country virtually smoke-free by 2025. Finland has set a similar target for 2040. Even in the United States, where individual freedom is sacrosanct, a quarter of adults said in a 2018 Gallup poll that smoking should be banned altogether. Of course, this is far from being the majority, but it rose from 11% in the 1990s. Massachusetts Medical Society President Alain Chaoui said many of his patients regret the decision to start smoking at a young age because it`s so hard to quit.
„By taking action to restrict access to products that we know cause disease and premature death, the Commonwealth has acted to protect our children and significantly reduce the risks that their health will one day be affected by the harmful effects of smoking,“ Chaoui said in a statement. Both sides are fighting for more than local politics. Essentially, they are fighting for the future of tobacco, a substance used by tens of millions of Americans, even though it kills nearly half a million people in the United States every year. In one corner, there are those, like Silbaugh and Ishak, who believe it`s time to ban a product with little benefit and well-documented harm. In the other corner, there are those who believe that tobacco – like alcohol and other potentially dangerous products – should remain legally available to adults who choose to do so. The winner of the battle could help define the trajectory of one of the world`s most influential and lucrative industries. In fact, it`s not entirely clear how effective Brookline`s TFG could be, both because of the city`s low smoking rates and its proximity to areas where smoking remains legal for all adults. Some research has shown that young adults are less likely to smoke when it`s uncomfortable, whether it`s because of bans or taxes. But Brookline`s law may not even make smoking particularly unpleasant.
The city is located in the city of Boston, which means residents 21 and older can cross the border a few blocks away in some cases to pick up cigarettes or vapes. Haglund v. Philip Morris, 446 Mass. 741 (2006) „Because no cigarette can be safely used for its ordinary use, which is smoking, there can be no inappropriate use of cigarettes.“ 105 CMR 661 Implementing Regulation MGL c.270 § 22. Contains detailed requirements for smoking in member associations and outdoor spaces. „Every time you pass a regulation like this, it`s a burden on people`s freedoms,“ he says. „When you do that, you always have to ask if the government has a good reason for it.“ If the courts consider the deadline to be random, they may decide that this is not a sufficient reason to restrict access to a traditionally legal product.
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