Board of Health to consider raising tobacco age to 21

By Jay Turner

On Monday, August 12, the Canton Board of Health will hold a public hearing to discuss and vote on revisions to the town’s current regulation prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to minors. The proposed revisions include raising the age for individuals who wish to purchase cigarettes, cigars, or other tobacco products in the town of Canton from 18 to 21 years.

The proposed revision would also prohibit the sale of any nicotine delivery merchandise other than traditional tobacco products to anyone in the town except for certain items used for the sole purpose of kicking the nicotine habit such as nicotine gum or nicotine patches.

The proposed changes were first reported by the Citizen in April following a Board of Health meeting in which both BOH members in attendance, Dr. Julie Goodman and Dr. Richard Levrault, along with Director of Public Health John Ciccotelli, publicly agreed to back the measures on a trial basis.

The decision was made at the urging of two local pediatricians, Dr. Jonathan Winickoff, a professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, and Dr. Lester Hartman, a senior associate with Westwood-Mansfield Pediatrics.

Both men had argued passionately in favor of raising the purchase age to 21 — a recommendation that has since become the official policy of both the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association.

“You guys are going to be the poster child for public health … you’re going to get a citation from the governor of Massachusetts,” said Winickoff after getting the board’s assurance that they would at least try the stricter regulations for a period of five years.

The current smoking age in Massachusetts and in 45 other states is 18; however, the final decision rests with local communities, and in the past few years several area towns have raised the age to 19, including both Westwood and Walpole earlier this year.

Hartman’s hometown of Needham, which has long been the standard bearer when it comes to tobacco control policies, raised the age to 21 in 2005 and also banned tobacco products from being sold in pharmacies. The town of Sharon also recently raised the purchase age to 21 effective May 19.

Hartman, whose pediatric practice serves over 300 kids from Canton, told health officials of his plan to “go to every town that surrounds Canton and talk to them.”

“It’s time to be more aggressive,” he told the board in April. “If you don’t do this, the other towns will, and you will be behind the eight ball and not viewed as a progressive town.”

The biggest sticking point among board members at the time was the lack of scientific data backing the two doctors’ claims. However, the board ultimately agreed to move forward with the age increase, with the caveat that they would collect data on teen smoking habits and revisit the legislation in five years.

One woman who spoke at the initial meeting and who identified herself as a nurse said the regulation changes were worth taking a chance on and needed to be done “for our kids.”

“It’s not about the numbers,” she told the board. “We know what’s right … If we can eliminate a whole generation of kids or a portion of a generation of kids from starting smoking and living that lifelong addiction, what is the harm in that?”

Anyone who has an interest in these regulation changes, either for or against, is invited to attend the hearing on August 12 at 7 p.m. in the Salah Meeting Room at Town Hall.

Stakeholders and agents of the tobacco industry have already contacted the Board of Health and have made known their intention to send representatives to the hearing to speak on the regulation. Interested Canton residents are encouraged to attend the hearing to make their wishes known as well.

Copies of the proposed revised regulation may be picked up at the Board of Health office or the Town Clerk’s office.

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