LONGMEADOW– At the July 11 meeting the Longmeadow Board of Health amended the town’s tobacco sales regulations by changing the legal age to purchase tobacco products in Longmeadow from 18 to 21.  As of July 27, the amended regulations were effective.

Information provided by the Longmeadow Board of Health state several alterations and additions to the regulations, aside from the age change.  Now, the definition of “tobacco product” includes e-cigarettes and liquid nitrogen products that rely on vaporization or aerosolization.  The locations that sell these products must have signage regarding free cessation resources that are available through the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.  Roll-your-own machines are now prohibited.  The granting of tobacco retailer licenses to establishments located at educational institutions is prohibited.  Similar to liquor control enforcements, there is now a two-year tolling period for enforcement of violations.  Additionally, there are mandatory penalty provisions for enforcement of violations.

According to Longmeadow Health Director Beverly Hirschhorn, there are currently 10 establishments in Longmeadow that hold permits to sell tobacco products.

 “One of the establishments has already informed the Board of Health that it will not be renewing its permit at the end of the permit period, Aug. 31,” Hirschhorn said.

While Massachusetts’ minimum age of sale of tobacco products is 18, several other towns in the state have amended the law to sell at 21.

 In a press release regarding Longmeadow’s law change it states, “These newly amended regulations primarily address youth access.  The provisions that were amended or added have already been adopted by a large number of other boards of health in Massachusetts.”

Nationally, there are 250 cities and counties that have changed their laws to allow for tobacco sales at the age of 21, according to tobacco21.org.  Most recently, Douglas, AZ, raised the age to 21, becoming the second city in Arizona to do so.  Other states that contain cities that have raised the tobacco purchase age include California, Oregon, Colorado, Kansas, Hawaii, Missouri, Arkansas, Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Maine.

Tobacco21.org reported that in 2015 the Institute of Medicine on behalf of the Food and Drug Administration?(FDA) released a seminal report that showed a 25 percent drop in youth smoking inititation, a 12 percent drop in overall smoking rates and 16,000 cases of preterm birth and low birth weight averted in the first five years of enacting a nationawide policy that would require all tobacco sales to hold the minimum age of sale at 21.

The FDA as well as the Longmeadow Board of Health plan to both monitor regulatory compliance to these new laws.

To make a complaint regarding an alleged violation or to gain further knowledge on the subject, call the Longmeadow Board of Health at 565-4140.