Board of Health to consider tobacco regulation changes

  Later this month, the Board of Health will vote on updated regulations for tobacco and vape products. Chief among the proposed changes is a move that could eventually lower the number of tobacco sales licenses in the city. At its July 28 meeting, the Board of Health agreed to include language that would put an advanced cap on the number of tobacco licenses in the city.

  Currently, the city has 60 tobacco licenses. Under an advanced cap, if a business turned in their tobacco license to the city, that license would no longer be available for a new business, ultimately lowering the number of tobacco licenses in the city over time, according to Public Health Director Lauren Buck. Buck said that approach has been taken in Winthrop.

  “So, there is an ever-dwindling number of permits for the city,” said Buck. “The theory behind this is to try to continue to reduce the number of tobacco retailers in the city.”

  However, if a retailer were selling a convenience store with a tobacco license, that license could be transferred to the new owner as long as the business remains in the same location, according to Buck.

  Board of Health Chair Dr. Drew Bunker said he supported the advanced cap on tobacco licenses in the city. “Obviously, the advanced cap is a little more regulation, but at the end of the day, the role of these laws is to limit tobacco sales, or to make it as safe as possible because we know the harm that tobacco does,” said Bunker. “It is reassuring to me that there is another town that does it.”

  Lisa Stevens-Goodnight, the tobacco control coordinator of the Massachusetts Municipal Association, said there could be some pushback from retailers on the number of tobacco licenses in the city decreasing, but she also noted that the reduction in permits could potentially make them more valuable to those business owners who already have one.

  The board also agreed to include language in the regulations that will codify the penalties for selling tobacco to minors, with a three-day suspension for the first violation within 36 months, seven days for the second violation and 30 days for the third violation. The board also agreed that the suspensions would have to be served on consecutive days.

  In addition, at its August meeting, the Board of Health will also consider whether it wants to ban the sales of blunt wraps and rolling papers. Bonny Carroll, the director of the Six-City Tobacco Initiative, which includes Revere, said blunt wraps contain tobacco and that some rolling papers have flavor enhancers that could entice younger people to smoke tobacco. She said the board could decide whether it would want to prohibit the sale of all rolling papers, or just those that are flavor enhanced.

  While the city did update its tobacco regulations in 2019, Buck said, the Board of Health is taking steps to update its regulations again because of new state regulations that went into effect shortly after Revere updated its local regulations.