Newton, Massachusetts Considering Banning Tobacco Sales to Anyone Born After 2003

[JohnS]

Just when you thought it was 'fun' to read about a legislated ban against buying tobacco products in the United Kingdom for people born after 2009, comes the news that Newton, Massachusetts is considering the same things against people born after 2003...

Newton, Massachusetts Considering Banning Tobacco Sales to Anyone Born After 2003

April 23, 2024 - Charlie Minato

Newton, Mass. is considering a generational tobacco ban, a law that would ban anyone born after 2003 from purchasing tobacco products in the city.

The proposal comes a little more than a month after the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld a similar ban in Brookline, Mass. Other Massachusetts towns, including Stoneham and Wakefield, have passed similar proposals. The moves are part of the next wave of tobacco-related age restrictions.

Tobacco 21—the movement to increase the minimum age to purchase tobacco products from 18- to 21 years old—more or less started in Massachusetts. A pair of doctors and other advocates lobbied dozens—if not hundreds—of local governments to increase the minimum age to purchase tobacco products. By the time the statewide change went into effect in late 2018, five other states had already passed their own state laws.

While there were statewide generational tobacco bans proposed in a few states last year, they remain relatively uncommon in both the U.S. and abroad.

Last week, the United Kingdom’s Parliament voted to move forward with a generational tobacco ban of its own, one that would ban anyone born after 2008 from purchasing tobacco products. It still needs to pass subsequent votes before becoming law. New Zealand was the first country to introduce a generational tobacco ban, though less than a year after it passed, the country’s new government announced and followed through with plans to reverse course on the policy.

Newton is a Boston suburb with a population of around 90,000.

The proposal is currently with the Newton Programs and Services Committee.

Source: https://halfwheel.com/newton-mass-considering-banning-tobacco-sales-to-anyone-born-after-2003/438137/

[BrightonCorgi]

Sons of Italy in Newton will be the only place left one can smoke in the city. The club never shut down during Covid and members were smoking cigars like it was the 1930's.

For most of the people in Newton & Brookline, tobacco sales & use should carry jail time and Cannabis sales should offer a tax credit. 

 

[joeypots]

The percentage of people from Newton who carry them selves as if they have a little piece of shit stuck under their nose is higher than that in the average town. I am always sorry to see cigars lumped in with cigarettes and dip. It seems to me that cigars, in moderation and not inhaled, are less harmful than other forms of tobacco but the true believers are alive a well in Massachusetts and common sense can be elusive. Quite a few massholes have asked me to stay down wind while at a party where people were enveloped in marijuana smoke. 

[Li Bai]

31 minutes ago, joeypots said:

Quite a few massholes have asked me to stay down wind while at a party where people were enveloped in marijuana smoke.

I'll never get over those 🤣🤣😂

[TacoSauce]

4 hours ago, BrightonCorgi said:

Sons of Italy in Newton will be the only place left one can smoke in the city.

Interesting tidbit. I was only aware of Stanza (downtown) and Cigar and Lounge (Watertown). It never occurred to me that private clubs were also players in this space.

[BrightonCorgi]

28 minutes ago, TacoSauce said:

Interesting tidbit. I was only aware of Stanza (downtown) and Cigar and Lounge (Watertown). It never occurred to me that private clubs were also players in this space.

I think the place in Sudbury on Boston Post Rd is open too. 

That's the great thing about private clubs; they're private.

[Wookie]

I lived in Newton for 6 years. We decided to move when our matriculating 6th grader's school decided to completely bury the revelation about a pedophile teacher who got outed for molesting little boys for years. That guy is in the federal pen now...probably not too popular with the other 'upstanding' inmates.

[BoliDan]

2 hours ago, joeypots said:

The percentage of people from Newton who carry them selves as if they have a little piece of shit stuck under their nose is higher than that in the average town. I am always sorry to see cigars lumped in with cigarettes and dip. It seems to me that cigars, in moderation and not inhaled, are less harmful than other forms of tobacco but the true believers are alive a well in Massachusetts and common sense can be elusive. Quite a few massholes have asked me to stay down wind while at a party where people were enveloped in marijuana smoke. 

As a Connecticunt, I like your reference to Massholes.