N. Kingstown Gets New Tobacco Law

The counter at your local convenience store is going to look a bit different this time next month. The North Kingstown Town Council unanimously approved a new tobacco ordinance that would make it more difficult for minors to access tobacco products at local stores.

The ordinance bars customers from purchasing tobacco products or paraphernalia without the assistance of an employee, with fines ranging from $50 for the first offense to $200 for third and subsequent offenses. Businesses will be required to move these products away from the front of the counter to behind the counter to minimize minors’ access to them.

Members of Working Together For Wellness, the town’s substance abuse task force, penned the ordinance and submitted their idea to the Town Council earlier this year. In a previous draft of the ordinance, the task force justified the ordinance by pointing to a tobacco as a gateway to drugs. Kathy Yeager, a member of the task force, says even the packaging of the products – with which can sometimes look like candy – is geared toward a younger crowd.

“I support this ordinance,” said Carol Mitola of Old Baptist Road during public comment. “I go into stores like Cumberland Farms and I see these products and, at first glance, they look like candy and they’re right next to the candy.”

Businesses will have 30 days to comply with the new ordinance.