Pittsfield Board of Health OKs Updated Tobacco Ordinance Draft

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — With the Board of Health's support on several proposed tobacco ordinance updates, the city now wants to hear from the public.

On Wednesday, the panel approved a slate of changes that extend the document from 16 pages to 18 pages. These include a clarified definition for blunt wraps, a raised minimum price requirement for cigars, and violations that incorporate state law.

This has been an almost six-month effort after Tri-Town Health Department Director James Wilusz came to the board in May to give an update on tobacco control.

Pittsfield's tobacco ordinance was last updated in 2019 before Gov. Charlie Baker signed an Act Modernizing Tobacco Control, which imposed new restrictions on the sale of nicotine vaping, flavored vaping, and tobacco products.

Wilusz warned the panel that such products can slip through the state's regulations without specific guidelines.

Blunt wraps are banned in both the new and old ordinances, though the definitions were tightened.

In the proposed new ordinance, a blunt wrap is defined as "any product wholly or in part from a tobacco product, manufactured or packaged with loose and removable leaves or section of a leaf, or as a hollow tube, that may be used by the consumer to wrap or contain loose tobacco or other fillers."

• A $1,000 fine for a first violation and a suspension for up to 30 days and no less than one day
• A $2,000 fine for a second violation and a suspension of up to 30 days and no less than seven days.
• A $5,000 fine for three or more violations in a 36-month period and a 30-day suspension.  

In the local regulation, the period between violations was changed from 24 months to 36 months and a section was added that allows the BOH to deny a tobacco license renewal if a retailer has sold to a person under 21 three times within the previous year.

The new ordinance also prohibits any new adult-only retail stores from existing within 25 feet of an existing tobacco permit.

There was a previous discussion about explicitly banning smoking bars but BOH members felt that the ordinance already bans them, as smoking is not prohibited in any bars within city bounds.

The town of Dalton has been on a similar path with Tri-Town, which has been administering a tobacco awareness program since 1994.

Pittsfield Tobacco Regulations by iBerkshires.com on Scribd

New Camp Is Safe Place for Children Suffering Loss to Addiction

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
06:26AM / Saturday, December 27, 2025

Last year's Happy Campers courtesy of Max Tabakin.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A new camp is offering a safe place for children who have lost a parent or guardian to addiction. 

 

Director Gayle Saks founded the nonprofit "Camp Happy Place" last year. The first camp was held in June with 14 children.

 

Saks is a licensed drug and alcohol counselor who works at the Brien Center. One of her final projects when studying was how to involve youth, and a camp came to mind. Camp had been her "happy place" growing up, and it became her dream to open her own.

 

"I keep a bucket list in my wallet, and it's right on here on this list, and I cross off things that I've accomplished," she said. "But it is the one thing on here that I knew I had to do."

 

The overnight co-ed camp is held at a summer camp in Winsted, Conn., where Saks spent her summers as a child. It is four nights and five days and completely free. Transportation is included as are many of the items needed for camping. The camp takes up to 30 children.

 

"I really don't think there's any place that exists specifically for this population. I think it's important to know, we've said this, but that it is not a therapeutic camp," Saks said.

 

She said the focus is on fun for the children, though they are able to talk to any of the volunteer and trained staff. The staff all have experience in social work, addiction and counseling, and working with children.