Massachusetts town considers banning ALL tobacco products and e-cigarettes

[pwaldo]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...bacco-ban.html

The cartons of Marlboros, cans of Skoal and packs of Swisher Sweets are hard to miss stacked near the entrance of Vincent's Country Store, but maybe not for much longer:

All tobacco products could become contraband if local health officials get their way.

This sleepy central Massachusetts town of Westminster, which has a population of 7,700, has become an improbable battleground in America's tobacco wars.

On Wednesday, the Board of Health will hear public comment on a proposed regulation that could make the community the first municipality in the United States to ban sales of all tobacco products within town lines.

'To my knowledge, it would be the first in the nation to enact a total ban,' said Thomas Carr, director of national policy at the American Lung Association. 'We commend the town for doing it.'

Town health agent Elizabeth Swedberg said a ban seemed like a sensible solution to a vexing problem.

'The tobacco companies are really promoting products to hook young people,' she said, pointing to 69-cent bubblegum-flavored cigars, electronic cigarettes and a new form of dissolvable smokeless tobacco that resembles Tic Tac candies. 'The board was getting frustrated trying to keep up with this.'

Citing a report from the U.S. surgeon general, Swedberg said that if tobacco use continues unabated, 5.6 million American children who are younger than 18 today will die prematurely because of smoking. Change, she said, 'has to start somewhere.'

[texansrangerfan73]

Sounds pretty crappy to me & also shows the small & big government likes to try to run every aspect ones' personal life & their own choices. Glad I'm not a resident there!

[habsheaven]

Sounds pretty crappy to me & also shows the small & big government likes to try to run every aspect ones' personal life & their own choices. Glad I'm not a resident there!

Just curious. Do you say the same about bans on cocaine and crack?

[duane1969]

I don't like the aspect of government dictating stuff like this, but at the same time we still have counties in this country that mandate no alcohol sales because of historical religious influences. Heck we still don't have Sunday hunting here in WV apparently because of religious ideals. At least this has a purpose of preventing illness which tobacco users clearly can't do for themselves.

[37jetson]

Has this municipality sworn off taking any federal and state government benefits which are funded by tobacco products? Kind of a vicious cycle.

[texansrangerfan73]

Just curious. Do you say the same about bans on cocaine and crack?

Just out of curiosity isn't cocaine & crack the same thing & isn't cocaine & crack still illegal?

[habsheaven]

Just out of curiosity isn't cocaine & crack the same thing & isn't cocaine & crack still illegal?

Yes, and yes they are illegal. That's the point. Banning tobacco products in this municipality would make them illegal too. If you have no problem with banning a product nationally, why have a problem banning it locally? One could argue, rightly, that tobacco causes more damage than the others.

[shrewsbury]

[QUOTE One could argue, rightly, that tobacco causes more damage than the others.v[/QUOTE]

on an individual, on a family level?

someone has to bring in the cocaine, someone has to sell it, and someone has to make the crack. just without the users cocaine creates crime on many levels.

then look at someone addicted to crack and someone addicted to tobacco, who is worse off?

just because something is more readily available and used by more people does not make it worse.

[GroundSupport]

Yes, and yes they are illegal. That's the point. Banning tobacco products in this municipality would make them illegal too. If you have no problem with banning a product nationally, why have a problem banning it locally? One could argue, rightly, that tobacco causes more damage than the others.

Let me guess. You're all for legalizing marijuana?

[habsheaven]

[QUOTE One could argue, rightly, that tobacco causes more damage than the others.v

on an individual, on a family level?

someone has to bring in the cocaine, someone has to sell it, and someone has to make the crack. just without the users cocaine creates crime on many levels.

then look at someone addicted to crack and someone addicted to tobacco, who is worse off?

just because something is more readily available and used by more people does not make it worse.

On a collective level it is much worse. On an individual level you could argue it is quite the same. Dealing with a family member with lung cancer at 60 is no better than dealing with a crackhead at 30.