NORTHAMPTON — Smokers who are currently younger than 21 will likely never be able to legally buy cigarettes or any other tobacco products in Northampton after the Board of Health voted unanimously to approve the Nicotine-Free Generation proposal Thursday night.
Those born after July 1, 2005 are now barred from purchasing nicotine products — including cigarettes, vapes and pouches — at retail shops in the city. The Board of Health will provide written notices to tobacco retailers in the city, notifying them of the ban.
Thursday night’s vote came after months of public debate after it was first introduced in January, with some residents arguing that the change will unfairly bar adults from buying nicotine products on the basis of their birth year, while others viewed the policy as a measure to curb tobacco use.
Noting that neither he, nor his organization, accepts funding from any source, Stephen Helfer, representing Cambridge Citizens for Smoker’s Rights, explained that the regulation would likely come at the detriment of local businesses, many of which are minority-owned. He added that youth nicotine use has been on a decline in recent years.
“If the tobacco industry is trying to attract youth, it is not succeeding. The CDC reports teenage smoking at a 25-year low, the FDA reports youth vaping at a 10-year low and nicotine pouch use ‘remains low,'” he said at Thursday night’s meeting. “A generational tobacco and nicotine ban does not affect the youth at all, it erodes the autonomy of adults.”
Helfer went on to add that the state government deems those 21 or older mature and responsible enough to purchase marijuana and alcohol, two substances that can impair driving ability. He argued that if adults wish to purchase nicotine, which does not impair judgement or driving ability, it should be their choice.
“Persons under 21, already, that because of the state law, are told that they’re not competent enough to buy tobacco or nicotine products,” he said. “This proposed ban tells them that never in their lives, even when they’re 30, or 40 or 50, will they be considered by the state to have good enough judgement to buy these products.”
Those in support of the measure argued that it created a wide enough age gap between youth and those old enough to buy nicotine and tobacco would mitigate instances of teens or underage adults getting their hands on tobacco through older friends.
Resident Heather Warner went on to discuss the tobacco industry, citing 1990s statistics that claimed daily smoking by American teens aged 12 to 17 generated $480 million in profits.
“Whether or not young people are actually purchasing it themselves at a convenience store or whether they’re getting it through social access, nicotine is profitable to the tobacco industry,” she said. “Right now if someone is under 21, a 21- or 22-year-old might buy [nicotine] for someone 18 or 19. When we increase the age to 22, 23, 26, 27, that person is not going to buy nicotine products for a young person.”
In its deliberations over the generational ban, the board overwhelmingly spoke in support of it. Board of Health member Janet Grant made note of the fact that Thursday’s meeting only included public comment from two speakers —a detail that she said showed just how much public collaboration the regulation had seen already.
Board member Cynthia Suopis echoed Grant’s remarks, noting that the measure, in her view, aims to benefit public health as a whole.
“Anything we can do to eradicate this addiction we need to do as public health professionals,” Suopis said. “This is a unique proposal, but its been tested in our Supreme Court in the Commonwealth and I can say that I support it.”
The city of Brookline began the nicotine-free generation movement in 2020 when it banned anyone born in this century from purchasing nicotine products. Since then, more than 20 towns have followed in Brookline’s footsteps, including Amherst and Leverett.
Board of Health member Joanne Levin claimed that cities and towns that have passed similar policies have not expressed losses in business since implementing a generational ban.
“We’ve had testimony from folks from other municipalities that have implemented this years ago and none of those retailers have gone out of business,” Levin said. “There are options for other business models, not all of them cigarette-based, for convenience stores.”
