Newton City Council Passes Generational Nicotine Ban

NEWTON, MA — The City Council officially voted in favor of an ordinance that will prohibit the sale of tobacco and nicotine smoking products in the city to anyone born after March 1, 2004 during its meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 21.

The vote passed with a vote of 19 in favor and four opposed. Earlier this month, Mayor Ruthanne Fuller expressed her support for the law. The City Council’s approval being the final step toward implementation.

Prior to the vote, local tobacco retailers expressed their opposition to the proposed ordinance and asked the City Council to vote against it in a joint statement from the New England Convenience Store and Energy Marketers Association.

“The retail community and NECSEMA, which represents thousands of convenience stores across New England, oppose the measure for several reasons, including: It haphazardly applies a discriminatory ban against the purchase of legal products by 21-plus adults, treating them differently from those born before them. Restricting the free choices of legal products to adults is fundamentally wrong. It creates and supports a dangerous illicit market. It does nothing to address under-age youth use of nicotine and tobacco products.”

Last November, State Reps. Tommy Vitolo, Kate Lipper-Garabedian, and State Sen. Jason Lewis proposed The Nicotine Free Generation Bill, which would implement what Newton and the other communities have done on a statewide basis.