The Board of Health voted on Monday night to move forward with a public hearing on its nicotine-free generation proposal following presentations from advocates both for and against the regulation.

The Nicotine-Free Generation (NFG) initiative is one of Health Director Shaun McAuliffe’s priorities for fiscal year 2025. Intended to reduce the use of nicotine products by children and teenagers, the rule would prohibit the sale of tobacco to individuals born after a certain date. 

During a previous Board of Health meeting, McAuliffe reviewed the proposal with members and noted that, if adopted, the regulation would set the cutoff date at Jan. 1, 2005.

Monday night’s meeting was a continuation of the board’s previous discussion. As part of the proceedings, members received a presentation from Maureen Buzby, a tobacco prevention program manager who has worked with several communities in the Mystic Valley region on NFG policies.

Buzby’s presentation centered around the burdens of nicotine addiction on communities, the impact of tobacco regulations and the ways in which modern nicotine products appear to be marketed toward younger consumers.

As she talked, Buzby displayed a number of vapes in the shape of guitars, bears and other colorful designs.

“Who do you think they might be targeting?” Buzby asked the board. “I don’t think they’re targeting the adult smoker.”

Buzby argued that the marketing of nicotine products toward children and teens is a byproduct of the tobacco industry losing smokers and needing replacement customers. She went on to claim that “cute, clever products” developed by the tobacco companies are designed to target young people and get them addicted. 

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, age is a factor in nicotine addiction. The younger a person is, the higher the likelihood of addiction becomes once they start using nicotine products. 

Buzby concluded her remarks by discussing the framework of NFG regulations. She noted that these nicotine policies have a “long runway” for local businesses with tobacco licenses to plan for reduced sales of nicotine products. She also asserted that the regulations do not cause anyone who currently can purchase tobacco to lose that purchasing privilege.

“The policy is pretty simple, once you get used to it,” she concluded.

Board members asked questions and provided feedback following Buzby’s presentation. Public health nurse Simone Carter shared that local student athletes have reported nicotine overdoses and heart arrhythmias from using products such as nicotine pouches.

Member Mary Jo Ondrechen offered criticism of the NFG regulations, questioning whether a prohibition on nicotine was a productive approach.

“Prohibiting something just doesn’t seem to work well,” she said, mentioning past national attempts at prohibiting substances such as alcohol and marijuana.

Buzby explained that the policy allowed for a slow rollout, which would give time to work on “denormalizing” tobacco use altogether. She likened it to how smoking inside establishments such as restaurants and hospitals has been denormalized as a result of updated smoking laws.

Opponents voice concerns

During public comment, advocates representing tobacco groups spoke in opposition to the proposed NFG policy.

Jonathan Bowen-Leopold, a statewide mental health advocate, spoke briefly as a representative of Cambridge Citizens for Smokers Rights. Bowen-Leopold argued that smoking can be a helpful tool for people in substance abuse and mental health recovery, and that “people should be allowed to smoke at least outdoors.”

Speaking for the New England Convenience Store and Energy Marketers Association was its executive director, Peter Brennan.

Brennan argued that the NFG regulations do nothing to curb youth smoking and only target adults. He claimed that youth smoking numbers are down in record numbers as a result of effective education.

He also pointed to the economic impact the policy could have, if enacted.

“Frankly, it is bad for our retailers,” Brennan said. He went on to claim that the policy would, in effect, result in the devaluation of businesses with tobacco licenses and affect business owners’ ability to market and sell their business.

“We really feel it’s just targeting our retailers with no real health benefits associated,” said Brennan.

“It’s a well-intended policy that just has devastating financial impacts,” he added.

Following public comment and Buzby’s presentation, the Board of Health voted unanimously to move to a public hearing on the NFG regulation. A date was not yet announced.