[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Health of the Town of Ashland
October 7, 1993. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The Ashland Board of Health under the authority of Chapter 111,
Section 31, and Chapter 40, Section 21D, of the Massachusetts General
Laws, in the interest of protecting public health, hereby adopts these
regulations.
As used within these regulations, the following shall be defined
as below:
Cash register that is physically staffed by an employee of
the establishment and is available to the patrons of the establishment
for the purpose of paying for items being purchased from the establishment.
Device which enables an establishment's agent or employee
to directly control the sale of items through tobacco vending machines.
Any person, business, or organization, which sells any tobacco
product to the public for use other than medicinal purposes, whether
or not the sale of the tobacco product is primary or secondary to
any other business or activity of that person, business, or organization.
Any product derived from tobacco with the intended use of
intake within the body through the means of smoking, chewing or sniffing.
Such products include, but are not limited to, cigarettes, cigars,
pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, and snuff.
A.
No person, business, or organization shall, within the Town of Ashland,
sell cigarettes, cigars, or other tobacco products to the general
public until a Retail Tobacco Sales Permit is obtained from the Ashland
Board of Health.
B.
An application for a Retail Tobacco Sales Permit shall be made to
the Ashland Board of Health by current retailers of tobacco products
within forty-five (45) days of the effective date of these regulations.
C.
An application for a Retail Tobacco Sales Permit by other than current
retailers of tobacco products shall be made to the Ashland Board of
Health, and such permit shall be issued prior to the retail sale of
any tobacco product within the Town of Ashland.
D.
All Retail Tobacco Sales Permits shall expire on December 31 of each
year. Application for, and issuance of, such permits shall be on an
annual basis.
E.
The Ashland Board of Health shall establish and charge an annual
fee for the issuance of Retail Tobacco Sales Permits.
A.
In accordance with Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 270, Section 6, whoever sells a cigarette, chewing tobacco, snuff, or any tobacco in any of its forms to any person under the age of eighteen (18) or, not being his parent or guardian, gives a cigarette, chewing tobacco, or tobacco in any of its forms to any person under the age of eighteen (18) shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100) for the first offense, not less than two hundred dollars ($200) for the second offense, and not less than three hundred dollars ($300) for any third or subsequent offenses.
B.
Notwithstanding the above, the Ashland Board of Health, upon ten-day
notice to the holder of any Retail Tobacco Sales Permit, may, for
cause, hold a hearing to determine whether it should suspend or revoke
that Retail Tobacco Sales Permit.
B.
The notice to be posted shall be that notice provided by the Massachusetts
Department of Public Health.
(1)
Such notice shall be at least forty-eight (48) square inches and
shall be posted at the cash register which receives the greatest volume
of single cigarette package sales in such a manner so that it may
be readily seen by a person standing at or approaching the cash register.
(2)
Such notice shall directly face the purchaser and shall not be obstructed
from view or placed at a height of less than four (4) feet or greater
than nine (9) feet from the floor.
C.
For all other cash registers that sell cigarettes, a notice shall
be attached which is no smaller than nine (9) square inches, which
is the size of the sign provided by the Massachusetts Department of
Public Health.
(1)
Such notice must be posted in a manner so that it may be readily
seen by a person standing at or approaching the cash register.
(2)
Such notice shall directly face the purchaser and shall not be obstructed
from view or placed at a height of no less than four (4) feet or more
than nine (9) feet from the floor.
F.
A copy of the Ashland Board of Health's Tobacco Sales Regulation
shall be posted by each permittee at a place and in a position where
it can be readily viewed by any employee engaged in the retail sales
of tobacco product.
A.
Each permittee shall maintain a log book of employees who engage
in the sale of tobacco products.
B.
Persons operating vending machine lock-out devices shall, for the
purposes of these regulations, be considered engaged in the sale of
the product contained within the vending machine.
C.
No individual employee of any permittee shall be allowed to sell
any tobacco product until such employee reads these regulations and
applicable Massachusetts laws and signs a log book kept by the permittee.
D.
The employee's signature in said log book shall indicate that
said employee has been provided with a copy of both these regulations
and all applicable state laws and that that employee understands the
requirements of these regulations and the applicable state laws.
E.
Such log book must be retained by the permittee and shall be made
available for inspection during the permittee's normal business
hours, upon request of an agent of the Ashland Board of Health.
F.
Whoever violates this section shall be punished by a fine of fifty
dollars ($50) for each said violation.
A.
Freestanding displays of tobacco products, from which individual
packages or cartons may be selected by the customer, must be located
within twenty (20) feet of an active cash register.
B.
The freestanding display must be located in full, unobstructed, view
of the clerk manning such cash register.
C.
Whoever violates this section shall be punished by a fine of fifty
dollars ($50) for each said violation.
A.
Effective forty-five (45) days from the effective date of these regulations,
no person or entity shall install or maintain a vending machine to
distribute or sell tobacco products within the Town of Ashland except
as provided hereafter:
B.
Vending machines used to distribute or sell tobacco products shall
only be allowed in:
C.
Each person, business or organization which has on its premises a
vending machine to distribute or sell tobacco products shall obtain
a Retail Tobacco Sales Permit from the Ashland Board of Health.
D.
Each such vending machine shall be equipped with a lock-out device
which has been approved by the Ashland Board of Health and/or its
agent(s). The release mechanism of such a device must not allow continuous
operation of the vending machine and must not be accessible to customers.
E.
Each such vending machine must be in clear view of the person operating
such lock-out device at the time of operation.
F.
Each such vending machine shall have posted on or directly abutting
such machine a sign, made from durable material, of not less than
four and five-tenths (4.5) inches by eight and five-tenths (8.5) inches
in size, and which is securely fastened, which states:
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"ATTENTION! THIS MACHINE IS EQUIPPED WITH A LOCK-OUT DEVICE
TO PREVENT THE SALES OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS TO PERSONS UNDER THE AGE
OF EIGHTEEN (18). TO PURCHASE A TOBACCO PRODUCT FIRST SEE THE PERSON-IN-CHARGE."
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G.
Whoever violates this section shall be punished by a fine of fifty
dollars ($50) for each said violation.
A.
Sales or distribution of tobacco products in any form other than
in original factory-wrapped packaging is prohibited.
B.
Distribution to the public of tobacco products other than by a permittee
is prohibited.
C.
Whoever violates this section shall be punished by a fine of one
hundred dollars ($100) for each said violation.
A.
These regulations shall be strictly enforced by the Ashland Board
of Health and/or its agent(s).
B.
It shall not be considered "entrapment" or any other violation of
the law for the Ashland Board of Health to engage an individual under
the age of eighteen (18) years to attempt to purchase cigarettes or
other tobacco products for the purpose of monitoring compliance with
this chapter.
C.
All fines listed herein shall be enforced under the authority granted
under Chapter 40, Section 21D, of the Massachusetts General Laws.
A.
The Ashland Board of Health may, upon the convening of a hearing,
vary the application of any provision(s) of these regulations with
respect to an individual permittee when, in its opinion, the enforcement
thereof would do manifest injustice or cause undue hardships, provided
that the decision of the Board shall not conflict in any way with
the spirit of these regulations.
B.
The burden of proof of the manifest injustice or causes of hardship
shall be the responsibility of the applicant for such variance.
If any provision of these regulations is declared invalid or
unenforceable, the other provisions shall not be affected thereby,
but shall continue in full force and effect.
These regulations shall be effective as of October 1, 1993.
