BOSTON — The Massachusetts Senate passed and sent to the Massachusetts House legislation to reduce youth access to tobacco and nicotine products.
State Sen. Brendan Crighton in a press release said tobacco use and nicotine addiction remains the leading cause of preventable illness and premature death in Massachusetts, responsible for more than $4 billion in annual health care costs to the Commonwealth.
Youth are particularly susceptible to nicotine addiction, nicotine has harmful health impacts on the developing brain, and 9 in 10 cigarette smokers begin using before age 18. The bill raises the minimum legal sales age for all tobacco products to age 21; adds vaping products to the smoke free workplace law; and prohibits the sale of tobacco products in health care institutions, including pharmacies.
“I am thankful to the countless youth, teachers, parents and health professionals who have worked so hard throughout the years to raise awareness of the health risks concerning tobacco use,” said State Senator Brendan Crighton. “I was proud to co-sponsor this common sense legislation that will lead to people living healthier, safer and longer lives.”
While youth smoking has declined considerably in the last two decades, youth use of other addictive tobacco products like e-cigarettes is increasing sharply. While nicotine delivery products like e-cigarettes may sometimes help some nicotine-addicted adults to stop smoking traditional cigarettes, they present a significant new threat to the health and wellbeing of young people who have not previously used tobacco products.
To directly target youth use, the legislation proposes an increase in the legal sales age for tobacco products from 18 to 21. Crighton called the lifting the age a proven and effective strategy to reduce youth tobacco use because it removes legally purchased tobacco products from high school social networks. The town of Needham achieved a 48 percent reduction in youth tobacco use after becoming the first town in Massachusetts to raise the legal sales age to 21. The Institute of Medicine projects that increasing the age from 18 to 21 will reduce overall tobacco use in a population by 12 percent — the equivalent of 150,000 Massachusetts tobacco users.
Meanwhile, youth use of e-cigarettes has grown alarmingly, becoming a pervasive presence in our high schools. The provisions in this bill build upon the regulations promulgated in 2016 by Attorney General Maura Healey, and ensure that the places that are tobacco free will also be vape free, including schools, restaurants and workplaces.
“Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death and disease in this country, and 95 percent of all adult tobacco users start by the age of 21. If we can keep young Massachusetts residents from buying tobacco until they turn 21, we can save thousands of lives,” said Allyson Perron, Senior Director of Government Relations at the Massachusetts chapter of the American Heart Association, “any action we can take to stop the young from taking that first deadly puff should be ardently pursued. We applaud the Massachusetts Senate for taking this important step in improving the health and wellbeing of our young residents.”
This bill also prohibits the sale of tobacco products in health care institutions, including pharmacies, a policy already in place in more than 160 of our cities and towns, and a practice already adopted by firms like CVS.
Other provisions included in the bill are new authority granted to the Department of Public Health to regulate new, emerging tobacco products; and language requiring the Center for Health Information and Analysis to study the current tobacco cessation benefits offered by commercial insurers, MassHealth, and the Group Insurance Commission.
Many cities and towns have enacted policies to reduce tobacco use and nicotine addiction that go beyond current state and federal laws and regulations, creating a patchwork of different laws across the commonwealth that can confound retailers, distributors, consumers and public health officials. This legislation will provide a uniform statewide set of rules that protect youth and simplify the interaction between our state and local laws.
