Williamstown Raises Tobacco/Nicotine Age to 21
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The Board of Health on Monday held a public hearing on proposed changes to raise the legal age from 18 to 21.
Williamstown is the 69th town in the commonwealth to raise the age for tobacco products to 21. The only municipality in Berkshire County to do so, Lanesborough, set an effective date of 2018.
After taking input from nine individuals who asked to address the board — all speaking in favor of the changes — the board voted unanimously and almost immediately to change the law.
After a brief discussion about the effective date, the board members settled on Sept. 1, happy that it will nearly coincide with the start of school in town.
Stopping high school-age youngsters from buying tobacco products is the best way to keep them from using them and passing them on to their even younger friends.
"I started smoking when I was 15 years old," Ed Sederbaum told the board. "I got it from the older brother of a friend of mine who was 18 already. I didn't quit until I was 35 years old, when I reached four packs a day of non-filtered cigarettes.
"I probably made five or six attempts over the years and couldn't."
Sederbaum, who did substance abuse work with the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, was one of several who testified that teens are more susceptible to addiction than people who have reached the age of 21.
"I now know from my work in prevention that the earlier you start with substance use, the harder it is to break the pattern," he said.
Bret Beattie, the NBCC's current community health worker, and Wendy Penner, the coalition's director of prevention programs, both testified at Monday's hearing.
"I'm sure everyone in the room is familiar with all the tactics big tobacco uses," Beattie said. "I think we need to do everything in our power to protect young people before they get addicted.
"If we can raise the age and give them a little more time to grow, we're doing what we can to protect our young people from large corporations."
Joan Rubel of the Berkshire Area Health Education Center characterized steps like Williamstown's as a good step in addressing a wider problem.
"I'm quite convinced that with a coordinated effort at the local, state and national levels, we could eradicate this pediatric disease," Rubel told the board.
In addition to local health advocates, the board heard from Dr. Lester Hartman, a pediatrician from Needham, the town that was the first in the nation to raise the tobacco age to 21.
That change was made in 2005. Surveys of high school students in Needham and 16 surrounding communities from 2006 to 2012 found that the percentage of high school kids smoking dropped from 13 percent in 2006 to 5.5 percent six years later.
Hartman said he has been to 84 public meetings in communities around the commonwealth over the last 2 1/2 years advocating for raising the nicotine age to 21.
And he reminded the Williamstown Board of Health that laws should address all nicotine products, not just cigarettes and other smoking paraphernalia.
" 'Vape' shops are opening up," Hartman said, referring to electronic cigarette or vapor products. "They're talking about how they've helped people get off cigarettes and get on vaping. There's no evidence vaping is a smoking cessation device.
"You will have vape shops in some area around here at some point. It will happen."
Hartman brought along some non-cigarette products he purchased in Williamstown on Monday to show the board how many different delivery methods are available.
Health Agent Jeffrey Kennedy assured Hartman and the board that all of Williamstown's ordinances apply to the full variety of products that contain nicotine.
"I want to thank all of you for coming," board member Dr. Erwin Stuebner told those who testified. "After 39 years of practicing internal medicine, I saw the consequences of what you pediatricians saw as the young people were starting.
"Raising the age to 21 makes a large difference. ... It seems to be a key factor of prevention."
Tags: board of health, smoking regulations,
