Brockton Mayor Bill Carpenter is speaking out against a city proposal that would increase the age for buying cigarettes to 21 and would ban the sale of flavored tobacco products.
The municipal tobacco regulations were first floated in Brockton in 2014, when two Massachusetts doctors went around the state trying to communities to join the ban wagon.
BROCKTON – Brockton Mayor Bill Carpenter is speaking out against a city proposal to increase the age for buying cigarettes to 21 and ban the sale of flavored tobacco products.
The Brockton Board of Health is holding a hearing on Tuesday afternoon on whether to increase the minimum age to purchase cigarettes and e-cigarettes in the city from 18 to 21, in addition to a ban on flavored tobacco (except menthol), along with several other proposed restrictions.
Carpenter said that he supports efforts to curb smoking, but that the regulations should be imposed on a statewide level by the Massachusetts legislature, in order to avoid putting Brockton businesses at a disadvantage.
“A unilateral increase to the minimum tobacco purchase age by Brockton ... will simply drive some tobacco purchases out of Brockton businesses into bordering towns,” Carpenter said in a statement to the Board of Health, suggesting alternatives like prohibiting outdoor advertising and increasing fines for selling to minors. “We should not intentionally harm Brockton small businesses, many of whom are family-owned and already struggling to make a living. Brockton’s convenience stores and gas stations rely upon the customer foot traffic created by tobacco sales. ... This type of regulatory change sends the wrong message to those who own or are considering starting a small business in Brockton.”
The Brockton Board of Health is scheduled to discuss imposing tobacco-related regulations on Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Brockton City Hall, 45 School St., in the G.A.R. Room.
The Coalition for Responsible Retailing, a statewide group composed of four major trade organizations, is also speaking out against the Brockton Board of Health’s proposal to ban sales of flavored tobacco products, including e-cigarettes. The Board of Health is also considering whether to ban the sale of blunt wraps, abolishing the sale of tobacco in pharmacies, and regulating the pricing and packaging of cigars and cigarillos.
The state retailing coalition called on Carpenter and members of the Brockton City Council to oppose the measures.
The retailing coalition called the proposed tobacco and e-cigarette regulations hypocritical because alcohol sales in the city are not similarly restricted based on flavoring, rejecting the argument that flavoring makes the products more appealing to children.
"Hypocritically, there is no corresponding ban on the sale of flavored alcohol," said Matthew LeLacheur, co-executive director of the New England Service Station and Auto Repair Association, one of the four trade organizations that are part of the retailing coalition. "If the regulations pass as currently proposed, a 21-year-old adult would be able to buy a single serving nip of vanilla vodka but not a vanilla cigar. Why would the city of Brockton treat two legal, age-restricted consumer products – tobacco and alcohol – completely differently?"
The Brockton Board of Health proposal would also set a minimum pack size and price for cigars, with regulations that require single cigars to be sold for a minimum of $2.50, and packs of two or more to be sold for at least $5.
The Brockton Board of Health is holding a hearing on Tuesday afternoon on whether to increase the minimum age to purchase cigarettes and e-cigarettes in the city from 18 to 21, in addition to a ban on flavored tobacco (except menthol), along with several other proposed restrictions.
Carpenter said that he supports efforts to curb smoking, but that the regulations should be imposed on a statewide level by the Massachusetts legislature, in order to avoid putting Brockton businesses at a disadvantage.
“A unilateral increase to the minimum tobacco purchase age by Brockton ... will simply drive some tobacco purchases out of Brockton businesses into bordering towns,” Carpenter said in a statement to the Board of Health, suggesting alternatives like prohibiting outdoor advertising and increasing fines for selling to minors. “We should not intentionally harm Brockton small businesses, many of whom are family-owned and already struggling to make a living. Brockton’s convenience stores and gas stations rely upon the customer foot traffic created by tobacco sales. ... This type of regulatory change sends the wrong message to those who own or are considering starting a small business in Brockton.”
The Brockton Board of Health is scheduled to discuss imposing tobacco-related regulations on Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Brockton City Hall, 45 School St., in the G.A.R. Room.
The Coalition for Responsible Retailing, a statewide group composed of four major trade organizations, is also speaking out against the Brockton Board of Health’s proposal to ban sales of flavored tobacco products, including e-cigarettes. The Board of Health is also considering whether to ban the sale of blunt wraps, abolishing the sale of tobacco in pharmacies, and regulating the pricing and packaging of cigars and cigarillos.
The state retailing coalition called on Carpenter and members of the Brockton City Council to oppose the measures.
The retailing coalition called the proposed tobacco and e-cigarette regulations hypocritical because alcohol sales in the city are not similarly restricted based on flavoring, rejecting the argument that flavoring makes the products more appealing to children.
"Hypocritically, there is no corresponding ban on the sale of flavored alcohol," said Matthew LeLacheur, co-executive director of the New England Service Station and Auto Repair Association, one of the four trade organizations that are part of the retailing coalition. "If the regulations pass as currently proposed, a 21-year-old adult would be able to buy a single serving nip of vanilla vodka but not a vanilla cigar. Why would the city of Brockton treat two legal, age-restricted consumer products – tobacco and alcohol – completely differently?"
The Brockton Board of Health proposal would also set a minimum pack size and price for cigars, with regulations that require single cigars to be sold for a minimum of $2.50, and packs of two or more to be sold for at least $5.
Resource: http://www.enterprisenews.com/article/20160229/NEWS/160226345
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