Brookline's Age-Based Tobacco Ban Goes Into Effect Sept. 27

BROOKLINE, MA — A new Brookline law banning tobacco and vape sales to anyone born after January 1, 2000 will go into effect on Saturday, September 27, preventing an entire generation from purchasing these products anywhere in the town.

The law, approved by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey on July 19, is the first of its kind in the United States. It is really an amendment to Article 14, which bans the sale of tobacco products to minors.

According to the article's primary petitioners Anthony Ishak, Kate Silbaugh, Maura Toomey and Nancy Daly, the goal of the amendment is to incrementally increase the number of people who cannot legally purchase tobacco products in Brookline until the law applies to everyone.

"By intervening on a public health level at the right time, it can prevent new smokers from coming in," said Ishak.

"This is an example of how the community is able to implement things that have an impact on the most vulnerable," he continued.

Although young consumers will still be able to purchase tobacco products in communities surrounding Brookline, Silbaugh said it is not a primary concern.

"There is some public health data that suggests access does matter," said Silbaugh. "Also, in the past when we have taken the lead on actions, neighboring jurisdictions have joined us."

The Article 14 amendment comes after the town passed a bylaw in 2019 banning the sale of flavored tobacco products, including menthol-flavored products. Both the bylaw and the amendment have been met with a fair amount of opposition, with 20 Town Meeting members voting against the bylaw and 78 voting against the age-based ban for reasons including potential harm to small businesses and concern that the ban will not do enough.

"I strongly disapprove of the type of age-based differential treatment that will be encoded in our bylaws by WA 14," said Town Meeting Member Marissa Vogt in a Twitter post following the town's vote to approve the amendment. "So I voted no, though I am glad it passed. I would have wholeheartedly supported a full tobacco ban."

Although the law was met with some opposition, including "no action" votes from both the Brookline Select Board and Advisory Committee, petitioners said most residents have been supportive because of the way it was written. Specifically, it will not impact anyone with the current right to purchase tobacco products and will give local businesses time to adapt incrementally.

But most importantly, they said, Brookline's smoking rate is nearing 7%, with the rate for high school students hovering around 5%, and the amendment was designed with the purpose of saving lives.

"It is a deadly product, it doesn't have a positive use, and we've all come to accept that there's nothing we can do," said Silbaugh. "That's not true."

"If you don't start, you won't start," she continued.