Brennan: Generational nicotine ban exercise in overreach
An increasing number of communities are standing up to bureaucratic charades disguised as constituents wellness and saying no to closed-door blatantly un-democratic maneuvers designed to strip away civil liberties Stoughton should do the same when the board of fitness meets on Thursday to consider a generational nicotine ban Ashland and Westminster are the latest communities to reject misguided attempts by local strength boards to impose nicotine-free generation bylaws which would ban tobacco and nicotine products for anyone born after Jan We endorsement communities seeking to reduce smoking and protect youth from buying nicotine but particular towns are using bait-and-switch tactics that trample on democracy and seek to do an end-run around federal regulations Not only should we not accept such legislative overreach we should fight back to make sure precedents are not set that could create civil liberty setbacks for generations Officers in these towns were right when they lately refused to move forward with NFG proposals not only because the initiative is flawed but because they recognized they could not allow local boards of wellbeing to be co-opted by well-funded activists seeking to exploit and manipulate the system and ram through agenda-driven policies without debate At a time when regime transparency and accountability is being demanded more and more it s refreshing to see communities protect adult rights and the democratic process Stifling populace debate is unfailingly wrong Democracy as they say dies in darkness The more people learn about the deceptively named Nicotine Free Generation law the less they like it The list of communities rejecting NFG is growing and now includes Bellingham Worcester Peabody Milton Franklin Medfield Lynnfield and Westfield The fact is voters are tired of nanny state policies and lawmakers legislating their version of morality while taking questionable actions that harm small businesses strip away tax dollars and expand opportunities for criminals to sell unregulated products on the streets and the internet When community officers take the time to learn the facts they are seeing that this is a highly-flawed protocol that creates more problems than it solves NFG does nothing to curb smoking or stop youth smoking and exemplifies governing body overreach at its preponderance egregious Other communities considering these absurd policies including Stoughton would be wise to reexamine them and put guidance into mentoring and awareness rather than impose foolish bans that don t work These misguided prohibitions make for good fear-mongering soundbites but have no impact on smoking rates and serve only to unfairly target adults seeking to purchase legal federally-regulated products The federal authorities set the age of purchase at for tobacco and nicotine as it is with gambling cannabis and alcohol for a reason because it is accepted that adults are free to choose to purchase legal products even if they may come with liability It is discriminatory and a violation of civil liberties to arbitrarily set prohibition dates to block future generations from being able to buy these legal products Worse it won t work People subject to these local bans will totally turn to neighboring communities and states or worse the internet to buy their chosen products Keeping nicotine and tobacco products in regulated licensed stores where IDs are checked and legal compliance is high protects consumers from purchasing dangerous uninspected products The tobacco flavor ban in place in Massachusetts since has had no impact on smoking rates but has stripped away hundreds of millions in tax dollars which have solely shifted to New Hampshire Rhode Island and other neighboring states Those are vital tax dollars that could have been used for awareness and prevention efforts It is ironic that a few communities are seeking to circumvent inhabitants discourse to strip away adult rights especially when considering that Massachusetts has historically been on the forefront of protecting rights and liberties Massachusetts has legalized cannabis and sports gambling expanded the availability of alcohol licenses funded free hypodermic needle programs and is constantly pursuing other harm reduction policies for hard drugs Yet on tobacco and nicotine various want to move Massachusetts in the opposite direction Elected bureaucrats are not supposed to pick winners and losers They are supposed to be the stewards of freedom not gatekeepers of subjective morality If towns like Ashland and Westminster purely rolled over boards of healthcare would be free to not only ban tobacco but also gambling cannabis and alcohol and maybe one day caffeine sugary drinks and fried foods if they feel masses vitality is at peril Where does it end Kudos to both towns for stopping the madness Stoughton should follow suit and put a stop to backroom deals and leadership overstep before it s too late Peter Brennan is the Executive Director of the New England Convenience Store and Ability Marketers Association
