WORCESTER — On December 31, 2018, Massachusetts became the first state in the nation to prohibit health care institutions, including pharmacies, from selling tobacco and vaping products. Prohibiting the sale of tobacco and vaping products in pharmacies protects public health by reducing youth exposure to a wide variety of enticing and addictive products and by reducing triggers for smokers who are trying to quit.
This statewide action, the result of tobacco prevention legislation signed by Governor Baker last July, followed years of successful work at the local level to ban sales of these addictive products in facilities that are dedicated to health and wellness, and that often treat illnesses and diseases caused by these products.
Statewide, 174 cities and towns, including the seven largest cities in the state, previously enacted this policy locally. The municipalities of Worcester, Athol, Gardner, Fitchburg, Leominster and Clinton did so, helping build momentum for this statewide legislation. In celebrating the years-long organizing effort that resulted in the Commonwealth’s first-in-the-nation status, Tina Grosowsky remarked, “Thank you to the Central MA Boards of Health that passed regulations and to the many individuals who testified at meetings in their cities and towns.” [JR1]
Another aspect of this statewide tobacco prevention legislation raises the minimum legal sales age for purchasing tobacco to 21. The state law provides an exemption to individuals age 18 before Dec. 31, 2018, and those individuals can continue to purchase tobacco products. However, this exemption only affects cities and towns that have not already raised the minimum purchase age to 21 through a local measure; two hundred municipalities, with more than 80% of the state’s population, have done so.
The higher age for purchasing tobacco and vaping products reduces the number of legal purchasers within a high school student population and recognizes that the adolescent brain is especially susceptible to nicotine addiction. This and other policies have been championed by area youth groups that are part of The 84 Movement of youth fighting against tobacco. Chapters at Montachusett Opportunity Council, Friendly House and HOPE Coalition educated and advocated successfully in their communities to protect the health of their peers.[JR2]
The new state law also prohibits the use of vaping products, like e-cigarettes, vape pens and JUULs, in all workplaces, restaurants and bars that are subjected to the state’s 2004 Smoke-Free Workplace Law and prohibits the use of any tobacco product on public or private school grounds or at school-sponsored events.
Taken together, these new statewide measures will help reduce the number of young people in Massachusetts who become addicted to nicotine and reduce the health and economic impact of tobacco in the Commonwealth. For more information about tobacco prevention efforts in Massachusetts, visit makesmokinghistory.org or contact Tina Grosowsky at 508-856-5067 or tina.grosowsky@umassmed.edu.