Whereas, there exists conclusive evidence that tobacco smoking causes cancer, respiratory and cardiac diseases, negative birth outcomes, irritations to the eyes, nose and throat;[1]
Whereas, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has concluded that nicotine is as addictive as cocaine or heroin[2] and the Surgeon General found that nicotine exposure during adolescence, a critical window for brain development, may have lasting adverse consequences for brain development,[3] and that it is addiction to nicotine that keeps youth smoking past adolescence;[4]
Whereas, a Federal District Court found that Phillip Morris, RJ Reynolds and other leading cigarette manufacturers "spent billions of dollars every year on their marketing activities in order to encourage young people to try and then continue purchasing their cigarette products in order to provide the replacement smokers they need to survive" and that these companies were likely to continue targeting underage smokers;[5]
Whereas, the majority (90%) of smokers begin smoking before the age of 25, and over five million youth and young adults (ages 25 and under) smoke;[6]
Whereas, cigars and cigarillos can be sold in a single "dose;" and enjoy a relatively low tax as compared to cigarettes;[7]
Whereas, the Surgeon General found that exposure to tobacco marketing in stores and price discounting increase youth smoking;[8]
Whereas, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Surgeon General have stated that flavored tobacco products are considered to be "starter" products that help establish smoking habits that can lead to long-term addiction;[9]
Whereas, the U.S. Surgeon General recognized in his 2014 report that a complementary strategy to assist in eradicating tobacco-related death and disease is for local governments to ban categories of products from retail sale;[10]
Whereas, ever use of e-cigarettes among students in Massachusetts is 30.9% for high schoolers and 10.9% for middle schools, representing a 20.3% decrease for high schoolers, and a 4.6% decrease for middle schoolers from 2019 to 2021;[11]
Whereas, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection has classified liquid nicotine in any amount as an "acutely hazardous waste";[12]
Whereas, the New England Commission on Higher Education requires colleges and universities to maintain a safe and healthy environment for students,[13] which is incompatible with the sale of tobacco and nicotine products;
Whereas, research indicates that the density and proximity of tobacco retailers increase smoking behaviors, including number of cigarettes smoked per day, reduced smoking abstinence during a quit attempt, and increased smoking prevalence among youth;[14]
Whereas, the density of tobacco retailers near adolescents' homes has been associated with increased youth smoking rates and initiation of non-cigarette tobacco product use;[15]
Whereas, tobacco retailers are more prevalent in underserved communities, especially in neighborhoods with a higher proportion of African American or Hispanic residents;[16]
Whereas, policies to reduce tobacco retailer density have been shown to be effective and can reduce or eliminate social and racial inequities in the location and distribution of tobacco retailers;[17]
Whereas, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has held that ". . . [t]he right to engage in business must yield to the paramount right of government to protect the public health by any rational means."[18]
Now, therefore, it is the intention of the Fairhaven Board of Health to regulate the sale of tobacco products.
[1]
U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Health Effects of Cigarette Smoking Fact Sheet (2021), https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/health_effects/effects_cig_smoking/index.htm.
[2]
CDC, How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: The Biology and Behavioral Basis for Smoking-Attributable Disease, (2010), http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/2010/.
[3]
U.S. Dep't of Health and Hum. Servs., The Health Consequences of Smoking — 50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General at 122 (2014), http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/reports/50-years-of-progress/full- report.pdf.
[4]
Id. at 13 (Executive Summary).
[5]
United States v. Phillip Morris, 449 F.Supp.2d 1, 1605-07 (D.D.C. 2006).
[6]
Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Key substance use and mental health indicators in the United States: Results from the 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (HHS Publication No. PEP21-07-01-003, NSDUH Series H-56) (2021) (Retrieved from https://www.samhsa.gov/data/).
[7]
CDC, Youth Risk Behavior, Surveillance Summaries (MMWR 2010: 59, 12, note 5) (2009) (Retrieved from: http:www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/ss/ss5905.pdf).
[8]
U.S. Dep't of Health and Human Servs., Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults: A Report of the Surgeon General 508, 530 (2012) (www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/reports/preventing-youth-tobacco-use/full-report.pdf).
[9]
Food and Drug Administration, Fact Sheet: Flavored Tobacco Products (2011), www.fda.gov/downloads/TobaccoProducts/ProtectingKidsfromTobacco/FlavoredTobacco/UCM183214.pdf; U.S. Dep't of Health and Human Services, Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults: A Report of the Surgeon General, 508, 539 (2012) www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/reports/preventing-youth-tobacco-use/full-report.pdf.
[10]
See fn. 3 at p. 85.
[11]
MA YRBS 2017
[12]
310 CMR 30.136
[13]
New England Commission on Higher Education, Standards for Accreditation at 24 (2021), https://www.neche.org/resources/standards-for-accreditation.
[14]
Ying-Chih Chuang et al., Effects of neighbourhood socioeconomic status and convenience store concentration on individual level smoking, 59(7) J. Epidemiol Cmty Health 568 (2005) (doi: 10.1136/jech.2004.029041); Shelley D. Golden et al., County-level associations between tobacco retailer density and smoking prevalence in the USA, 2012, 17 (101005) Prev. Med. Rep. (Mar. 2020) (doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2019.101005); Eric C. Leas et al., Place-Based Inequity in Smoking Prevalence in the Largest Cities in the United States, 179(3) JAMA Intern Med., 442 (2019) (doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2018.5990); JG Lee et al., Associations of tobacco retailer density and proximity with adult tobacco use behaviors and health outcomes: a meta-analysis. Tobacco Control. Published Online First: 03 September 2021; LR Reitzel et al., The effect of tobacco outlet density and proximity on smoking cessation. American Journal of Public Health. 2011, 101(2):315-320; L Henriksen et al., Is adolescent smoking related to the density and proximity of tobacco retailers and retail cigarette advertising near schools? Preventive Medicine. 2008, 47(2): 210-4.
[15]
LJ Finan et al., Tobacco Outlet Density and Adolescents' Cigarette Smoking: A Meta-Analysis, 28(1) Tob Control. 27 (2019) (doi: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2017-054065); Abdel Magid HS et al., Tobacco Retail Density and Initiation of Alternative Tobacco Product Use Among Teens, 66(4) J. Adolescent Health 423 (2020) (doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2019.09.004).
[16]
Siahpush M. et al., Association of availability of tobacco products with socio-economic and racial/ethnic characteristics of neighbourhoods, 124(9) Pub. Health 525(2010) (doi: 10.1016/j. puhe. 2010.04.010); Lee JG, et al., Inequalities in tobacco outlet density by race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status, 2012, USA: results from the ASPiRE Study, 71(5) J. Epidemiol Cmty Health 487 (2017) (doi: 10.1136/jech-2016-208475); D.O. Fakunle et al., Black, White, or Green? The Effects of Racial Composition and Socioeconomic Status on Neighborhood-Level Tobacco Outlet Density, Ethn Health. 1 (2019) (doi: 10.1080/13557858.2019.1620178).
[17]
Ribisl KM, et al., Reducing Disparities in Tobacco Retailer Density by Banning Tobacco Product Sales Near Schools, 19(2) Nicotine Tobacco Res. 239 (2017) (doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntw 185); HG, Henry et al., Tobacco Retail Licensing and Density 3 Years After License Regulations in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (2012-2019), 110(4) Am J. Pub. Health 547 (2020)(doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2019.305512); A.E. Myers et al., A comparison of three policy approaches for tobacco retailer reduction, 74 Prev. Med. 67(2015) (doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2015.01.025).
[18]
Druzik et al v. Board of Health of Haverhill, 324 Mass. 129 (1949).