Canton public health officials quietly blazing a trail

By Jay Turner

As convenience stores and gas stations across the commonwealth were busy clearing their shelves of any Kratom products amid an emergency statewide ban that took effect late last month, retailers in Canton were already well ahead of the curve thanks to stringent local health regulations enacted several months prior.

Unanimously approved by the Canton Board of Health in September 2025 and officially enacted this past April, the town’s regulation of the controversial plant and its derivatives left no room for ambiguity — expressly prohibiting the manufacture, distribution and sale of Kratom “in any of its forms.”

Canton’s Annual Health Fair, a popular town tradition, returns on Saturday, October 3. (Above) Young attendees visit the teddy bear clinic at last year’s health fair.

Anyone found to be in violation of the order faces a $300 fine for each offense, and repeat violators are subject to a suspension and potential revocation of all BOH-issued permits.

At the time it was approved, Canton was one of only five municipalities in the state to implement an all-out ban on Kratom, joining Belchertown, Lowell, Chelmsford, and Dracut. Several Massachusetts towns have since followed suit, while a number of others have adopted local restrictions or held hearings on the topic, prompting pushback from affected retailers, advocacy groups that tout its medicinal value, and even some healthcare providers who fear the unintended consequences for those grappling with dependency issues.

For health officials in Canton, however, the decision to be proactive with a Kratom ban boiled down to one simple question: Do the benefits of regulation outweigh the costs of doing nothing?

“We really just follow the science,” noted longtime BOH member and current chairperson Dr. Julie Goodman. “We don’t believe in regulation for regulation’s sake. It should only be there if it’s really going to promote public health.”

Perhaps as a result of this mindset, combined with the under-the-radar nature of their role and a remarkable ability to ignore any outside noise, Canton’s Board of Health has quietly raced to the forefront on a number of key issues in recent years — everything from raising the minimum age to purchase tobacco to banning flavored nicotine products to the permanent elimination of tobacco permits for new sellers.

Beyond these pioneering policy changes, the Canton Health Department, under the leadership of Public Health Director Meg Goldstein, has also established itself as a trailblazer in adult vaccine administration, launching the commonwealth’s first and only no-cost municipal vaccination program for uninsured or underinsured residents of any age.

“Meg is amazing, and so is the whole Health Department,” said Goodman, who is the longest serving Board of Health member with 18 years of service under her belt. “I think having events like the Annual Health Fair and having vaccines accessible to all residents is so important, and all the credit goes to Meg and her team.”

At the same time, Goodman said she’s very proud of the work that the board has done on the regulatory side, although even that, she said, has largely been a team effort, with major contributions from the likes of former health director John Ciccotelli and BOH members both past and present, including current members Dr. Alan Rapoport and Anjali Schutt.

In the case of their landmark tobacco regulations from 2013-14, which made Canton just the fourth town in Massachusetts to raise the tobacco purchase age from 18 to 21 — years before it was federally mandated — Goodman said they were moved to consider such a policy change based on the lobbying efforts of two local pediatricians, Dr. Jonathan Winickoff and Dr. Lester Hartman.

“The town of Needham had raised their purchase age to 21 a few years earlier, and [Winickoff and Hartman] were going from town to town telling local boards of health about this,” recalled Goodman. “The things that stuck with me from their presentation …

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