PEABODY, MA — A coalition of New England convenience store owners are planning to make their stand in Peabody as that city is the latest to consider a “generational” smoking ban that would forever bar the sale of nicotine products to anyone born after a certain date.
The Peabody proposal, which would be similar to those already passed in Brookline, Melrose, Stoneham and Wakefield, and which are being considered in other cities and towns — including Newton, Medford, Lexington and Northampton — would permanently restrict sales to anyone born after Jan. 1, 2004.
Rather than ban the sale of tobacco products entirely, the ordinances create what supporters hope will be a de facto generational ban by preventing anyone born after a certain date from ever legally buying the product — thus, in theory, wiping out legal sales over the course of years or decades as the community population ages.
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The Brookline bylaw was recently upheld by the state Supreme Judicial Court with the coalition of convenience store owners looking to stand up against the expansion of what they call a violation of civil liberties.
Gov. Maura Healey approved the Brookline law banning tobacco and vape sales to anyone born after Jan. 1, 2000, when she was the attorney general in 2021. Brookline’s ordinance was the first law of its kind in the United States.
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“In addition to preventing a new generation from being addicted to nicotine – and facing the long-term health issues that come with it – Brookline citizens who smoke will be further motivated to quit as smoking becomes rarer around them,” said a statement released by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) at the time applauding the town’s decision.
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But the store owner coalition is calling on those opposed to the proposed bylaw to make their voices heard at the Peabody Board of Health meeting scheduled for Thursday at 4:30 p.m. at Peabody City Hall. Those wishing to watch the meeting can also do so via Zoom here (passcode 643100).
The retail coalition argues that the proposed ban “haphazardly applies a discriminatory ban against the purchase of legal products by 21-plus adults, treating them differently from those born before them” in a way that is “fundamentally wrong,” works to create a “dangerous illicit market,” and “does nothing to address under-age youth use of nicotine and tobacco products.”
Newton began its efforts to pass a generational ban in April after the Supreme Judicial Court upheld the ban in neighboring Brookline.
(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)
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