By Dakota Antelman, Contributing Writer
Hudson – The Hudson Board of Health may soon ban the sale of all flavored tobacco products after a public informational session Nov. 20.
Amid a national debate about nicotine use, officials say the move is necessary despite a potential for controversy.
If passed, the proposal will require that Hudson’s many convenience stores remove all menthol and wintergreen cigarettes as well as other flavored tobacco products from shelves by a currently unspecified date in 2020.
“[These] are considered to be a starter product,” said Hudson Health Director Kelli Calo. “We don’t want to enable [youth] to get their hands on these products and then get highly addicted to them.”
Initially drafted as a simple amendment to a 2015 regulation, the proposal, Calo said, carries additional importance in the wake of Governor Charlie Baker’s controversial decision to ban nicotine and cannabis vapes in September.
Defended as an effort to curb still rampant cases of an unknown vaping-related respiratory illness, Baker’s proclamation has earned praise from some and criticism from others for failing to address the entire problem.
“Our concern is that, with these vaping products now less available, youth will turn to traditional cigarettes or that they’ll travel to New Hampshire or somewhere else to continue [supplying themselves],” Calo said. “So it’s still a concern and we’re trying to address it.”
Regardless of its opinion on the governor’s action, the Health Department has been tasked with implementing it. That puts its employees on the front lines of the conversation surrounding the ban. Luckily for them, they say, discussions have been cordial.
“[Store owners] were very receptive,” Calo said of the interactions she and her staff has as they canvassed the town to check compliance following Baker’s surprise move. “I don’t think we came into any trouble…There really hasn’t been much pushback to us because it’s out of our control.”
As those store owners quietly acquiesced to the state ban, however, Calo anticipates the same may not happen if and when the town implements its tobacco regulations currently under consideration.
“Flavored cigarettes are probably big business for them,” she said. “People don’t go into a store unless they’re a long-term smoker and ask for tobacco flavored cigarettes.”
Indeed, criticism blossomed online following the announcement of the potential Hudson ban centering not only around its impact on business, but also on its overall effectiveness.
“You won’t stop vaping by doing this,” wrote one Facebook user. “[This] won’t stop smoking either.”
Nevertheless, the town is not alone in this effort. The Food and Drug Administration banned flavored cigarettes in 2009 but exempted menthol ones. In September, the White House announced efforts to build on that with a broader ban on all flavored tobacco before then backing off in early November.
Independent of that back and forth, the Massachusetts House of Representatives voted to approve its own updated regulations by a 127-31 margin just the day after Hudson officials announced their similar proposal.
“It’s very effective,” Calo said of the developments at the State House in particular. “But I think that also still having this regulation at a local level so that we have local control is very beneficial.”
Ultimately, whether it’s at the federal, state, or local level, Calo said the public health industry has redoubled its efforts to fight nicotine addiction in recent years. For her, bans like this potential one are simply the products of that effort.
“This is where the public health industry is looking,” she said. “This is a high priority for the public health world.”
