Massachusetts lawmakers are pushing to ban all tobacco sales over time

Health

BOSTON (AP) — A handful of Massachusetts lawmakers are hoping to persuade their colleagues to support a proposal that may make the state the primary to enact a ban geared toward curbing the usage of tobacco products over time.

Other locations have considered similar “generational tobacco bans,” which might phase out the usage of tobacco products based not only on an individual's age but in addition the 12 months of birth.

A law signed in Massachusetts in 2018 raised the minimum age for purchasing tobacco products – including cigarettes, cigars and e-cigarettes – to 21. Massachusetts has also banned the sale of all flavored tobacco products to cut back young people's interest in nicotine.

The recent proposal, which lawmakers plan to file next 12 months, would expand efforts to curb smoking by phasing out all sales of nicotine and tobacco products. If the bill passes, young individuals who will not be sufficiently old to legally purchase nicotine and tobacco would never find a way to legally purchase them in Massachusetts, eliminating the creation of latest users.

It wouldn’t apply to marijuana and the cutoff date could be adjusted upon passage to be sure that it doesn’t affect all individuals who’re 21 years of age or older at the moment.

First city to introduce a generational smoking ban

Brookline, a city of about 63,000 people near Boston, became the primary municipality within the country to enact such a ban in 2020. Instead of raising the age for purchasing cigarettes, the statute prohibits the sale of tobacco to individuals born on or after January 1, 2000. The regulation took effect in 2021.

This would mean that in some unspecified time in the future nobody could be allowed to purchase tobacco products in the town. The measure was challenged, however the state's highest court agreed earlier this 12 months and upheld the ban.

Other cities and towns in Massachusetts have already approved similar tobacco bans, including Malden, Melrose, Reading, Stoneham, Wakefield and Winchester.

Unclear support levels

Democratic Sen. Jason Lewis, one among the sponsors of the statewide proposal, said the bill would “save countless lives and create a healthier world for the next generation.”

“We all know the devastating health effects of nicotine and tobacco products, particularly on our youth,” he said.

Nicotine and tobacco products are addictive and might increase the danger of lung cancer, heart disease, stroke and other illnesses.

Almost 9 out of 10 adults According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, students who smoke cigarettes day by day first tried smoking at age 18. In 2024, about two in five students who had ever used a tobacco product were currently using it.

Peter Brennan, executive director of the New England Convenience Store and Energy Marketers Association, said the proposal would undercut small mom-and-pop stores that depend on cigarettes for a good portion of their sales.

Additionally, stores near neighboring states that allow the sale of cigarettes to all adults could be at a competitive drawback.

“That’s a terrible idea,” he said. “You’re basically just taking away adults’ right to buy a legal, age-restricted product.”

It is probably going unconstitutional to deprive some adults of certain rights and never others, he said, adding that other prohibition efforts haven’t worked, equivalent to previous bans on alcohol, marijuana and gambling.

It's unclear how much support the proposal has within the Legislature.

Massachusetts has taken other steps to curb smoking in recent many years, including increasing cigarette taxes. These taxes would likely be reduced and eventually eliminated through a phased nationwide smoking ban.

A discount in cigarette tax revenue could be greater than offset by lower health care costs and other savings, Lewis said.

According to the state Department of Health, 10.4% of adults in Massachusetts reported smoking cigarettes in 2022.

Other places are weighing similar bans

Some California lawmakers have pushed to ban all tobacco sales and filed a bill last 12 months that may make it illegal to sell cigarettes and other products to people born after Jan. 1, 2007.

In 2022, New Zealand became the primary country to pass a law that may impose a lifetime ban on young people from buying cigarettes by mandating that tobacco should never be sold to anyone born on or after January 1, 2009. The law was later struck down.

In the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak proposed raising the legal age to purchase cigarettes in England by one 12 months annually until it’s eventually illegal for your complete population. The proposal failed to realize approval earlier this 12 months.