WILMINGTON, MA — On Tuesday, July 21 at 5:30pm, the Wilmington Board of Health will be holding a public hearing at Town Hall (Room 9) on proposed changes to the smoking and tobacco regulations.
Wilmington is looking to join a growing list of Massachusetts cities and towns to raise the minimum age to buy tobacco and nicotine products from 18 to 21. 65 other Massachusetts communities have taken action to raise the legal age, with 20 more about to follow trend. A few have raised the age to purchase tobacco products to 19, but most set the age at 21. Local boards of health are empowered to set regulations concerning tobacco sales and use. By increasing the age the Board of Health hopes that this will likely prevent or delay initiation of tobacco use by adolescents and young adults. The earlier people start smoking, the more likely it is to become a habit. We want to try and stop this trend.
The Board is also looking to ban sales of flavored tobacco and nicotine delivery products in all retail stores except for retail tobacco stores. Wilmington currently has one retail tobacco store. Advertisers clearly market these flavored nicotine and tobacco products towards kids. There are currently 20 Wilmington retailers that are allowed to sell these types of products.
E-cigarettes will be included under the definition “smoking” and will not be allowed anywhere and everywhere smoking is prohibited.
If these new proposed regulations pass, the Board will decide the effective date, which will likely be early Fall.
(NOTE: The above statement is from Wilmington Director of Public Health, Shelly Newhouse. The proposed changes to the regulations can be read HERE. Changes are in red.)
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