Needham BOH Share Message About Tobacco Sales

The following was submitted to Patch as a Letter to the Editor from the Needham Board of Health. If you would like to submit a letter to the editor, email samantha.mercado@patch.com.

An article in the journal Tobacco Control featured a study about teen smoking and the significant declines in that rate which have been achieved by increasing the minimum sales age for tobacco products to 21. The analysis done by the Educational Development Center in Waltham in collaboration with researchers at Brown University and Harvard Medical School, examined data from a biennial survey, supported by the MetroWest Health Foundation, of youth actions and perceptions in 25 cities and towns outside of Boston.

Needham was the first municipality in the nation to increase the purchase age for tobacco products to 21, and unsurprisingly the recent study found that the Town has achieved tremendous success in lowering the rate of smoking in teenagers. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has also made this minimum sales age increase to 21 for tobacco and nicotine delivery products a law effective as of December 31, 2018.

The Public Health Division’s staff members currently work cooperatively with the Needham Police Department to conduct routine Tobacco Compliance Checks as part of the Town’s on-going tobacco prevention efforts. Compliance checks occur at each of the ten licensed tobacco vendors at least four times a year to verify that all businesses and their staff members are following the proper protocols by asking the buyer for a valid ID and not selling tobacco products to anyone under the age of 21.

The Public Health Division and the Police Department are happy to report that during our recent Compliance Checks conducted in September 2019 there were no sales to persons less than 21 years of age! As Assistant Director of Public Health, I want to thank the town’s licensed tobacco vendors for following the strict tobacco buyer screening protocols, asking the customer for a valid ID, and for verifying that all purchasers are at least 21 years of age. We appreciate all your hard work in providing the on-going training to your employees that sell tobacco products. It is making a difference so please keep up the great work!

Due to these routine compliance checks, along with the Board of Health’s regulatory decision to increase the age at which youth may purchase tobacco products in 2005, there has been a dramatic decrease in Needham High School student smoking rates. From 2006 to 2010, smoking rates among high schoolers in Needham dropped from 13 percent to 7 percent, a significantly greater decline than in neighboring communities where teen smoking rates dipped from 15 percent to 12 percent, the study found. Smoking rates dropped even further between 2010 and 2012, falling to 5.5 percent in Needham and 8.5 percent in the neighboring communities. The declines have continued since, with 2018 data showing that the current smoking rate among high schoolers in Needham is now at 2.4%.

These declines in youth smoking in Needham have positive health consequences, for both the youth of Needham and the community as a whole. Cigarette smoking has been identified by researchers and health officials as the most important source of preventable morbidity (disease and illness) and premature mortality (death) worldwide, and smoking-related diseases claim an estimated 443,000 American lives each year, including those affected indirectly, such as babies born prematurely due to prenatal maternal smoking and victims of "secondhand" exposure to tobacco’s carcinogens.

Our routine Tobacco Compliance Checks, which have to date typically included the non-traditional nicotine delivery products like E-Cigarettes and Vape cartridge refills, will continue to be conducted in Needham, but due to Governor Charlie Bakers declaration of the recent Vaping public health emergency issued on September 24, 2019, the sale of all vaping products are currently banned for four months in Massachusetts through January 25, 2020. All retail tobacco establishments in Needham, including the Registered Medical Marijuana Dispensary, have voluntarily removed all E-Cigarette and Vape products off their shelves as a result of this ban. We plan to continue with these compliance checks by including the traditional tobacco products until the ban is lifted. We appreciate your continued cooperation!