Massachusetts may become the first US state to pass a generational ban on nicotine products. Photo credit: Lindsay Fox, CC2.0
It seems strange considering Massachusetts recently legalized recreational marijuana, but nanny states don't always make logical sense. Legislation pending before the State Legislature's Public Health Committee would permanently ban residents who are not currently old enough to purchase nicotine products from ever doing so legally in the state.
The sale of nicotine is restricted to anyone under 21; however, S.1568 / H.2562 would ban the sale of tobacco or nicotine products to anyone born on or after January 1, 2006, a group that will turn 21 in 2027. It would make Massachusetts the first US state to pass a generational ban on nicotine products.
The age cutoff would provide for a gradual phase-out of tobacco sales. Older adults who already smoke cigarettes, vape or use nicotine pouches would still be able to purchase the products.
Tobacco or nicotine products, under the bills, would include “cigarettes, cigars, little cigars, chewing tobacco, pipe tobacco, snuff, electronic cigarettes, electronic cigars, electronic pipes, electronic nicotine delivery systems, or any other similar products that rely on vaporization or aerosolization regardless of nicotine content in the product.”
All violators would face the same punishment of fines ranging from US$1,000 to US$5,000, depending on the number of offenses. And in addition to the outright ban, there is also a bill to ban internet sales of nicotine products.
In mid-July, municipal leaders, affected residents, and retailers testified at a public hearing at the Massachusetts State House to oppose the proposed state law, according to The New England Convenience Store and Energy Marketers Association (NECSEMA). The association represents and promotes the interests of 8,800 convenience stores and service stations across New England. NECSEMA and its partners cite many flaws in the state's proposed law, including:
- It does nothing to address underage youth use of nicotine and tobacco products.
- It applies to a discriminatory ban against the purchase of legal products by 21-plus adults.
- It creates and supports a dangerous illicit market.
- It drives consumers to unregulated online sales.
- It harms local mom-and-pop stores, which lose sales to neighboring states and unregulated markets.
- It opens the door to changing the legal age of purchase of other age-restricted products, like alcohol, marijuana and gambling.
- It strips the state of hundreds of millions in tax dollars used for vital public health initiatives.
Retailers also testified against the bill, saying that it was unnecessary due to the current law banning sales to those under 21 and that it would hurt their businesses. Some also said it was ideologically inconsistent with other drug-related efforts in Massachusetts, like legalizing marijuana.
Around the state, 17 Massachusetts municipalities, including Brookline, Reading, and Winchester, have already passed generational tobacco bans like those proposed in the state bills. In Brookline, the sale of tobacco is banned to anyone born on or after January 1, 2000. However, other cities, including Worcester, Peabody, Milton, and Westfield, have rejected similar local proposals.
Proponents claim the bill is crucial to preventing young people from getting addicted to the harmful products, but opponents say that it “infantilizes” adults. Derek Yach, a global public health expert and former president of the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, told Tobacco Asia that a generational ban is “a bad idea” and an example of “regulatory overreach” that undermines adult choice.
“It’s just not justified on public health grounds. Data shows that 3% of Massachusetts youth use combustible cigarettes, and the same percentage use vapes. It’s the lowest levels of cigarette use and is still dropping,” said Yach. “In Massachusetts, 3.4% of youth meet the criteria for illicit drug use disorder, and 11% used alcohol in the last month. Both are higher than national averages and require action. And none of this considers the (un)workability of the proposed ban and ways it could stimulate illicit use.”
In 2022, New Zealand became the first nation to pass a law intended to impose a lifetime ban on young people buying cigarettes by mandating that tobacco can’t ever be sold to anybody born on or after January 1, 2009. The law was later axed. Writing about the New Zealand proposal after its demise, Clive Bates, a tobacco harm reduction expert and founder of Counterfactual Consulting Ltd., asked if it was right for the state to coerce adults into a behavior change that they may not want to make.
“However we dress it up, this is basically the state trying to stop people smoking by taking away their cigarettes,” said Bates. “Is this the right way to do public health – to use the power of the state in this way?”