Letter: Raising Age for Nicotine Access Save Lives

Letter to the Editor12:30PM / Monday, July 07, 2025Print Story | Email Story

To the Editor:

Nicotine Free Generation (NFG) is a statewide proposal to very, very slowly raise the age that licensed nicotine dealers are permitted to sell to young people. For example, a town might change the minimum age from 21 to "those born before January 1, 2026." My own town successfully adopted NFG in December. Over 500,000 Massachusetts residents already live in NFG municipalities.

I spoke last week in support of NFG, and pointed out the seamless implementation in my community. My 14-year-old grandson said about one-third of his peers smoke or vape or suck on addictive nicotine pouches. For all of them, their distribution is illegal. Widespread breaking of the law is obviously a bad lesson for our young people.

Boards of health need to weigh a tiny reduction in nicotine sales to the near-certainty that enacting NFG will save many lives. For most of us, protecting public health is the reason we serve.

Ken Elstein
Belchertown, Mass.

Elstein is a member of the Belchertown Board of Health. Belchertown was the first community in Western Massachusetts to adopt nicotine-free generation regulations last year. The Pittsfield Board of Health has been considering NFG regulations.

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Pittsfield Remembers Lives Lost to Overdose, Underscores Harm Reduction

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:33AM / Tuesday, September 01, 2026

Mayor Peter Marchetti reads a proclamation at City Hall encouraging residents to raise awareness and lift each other up.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Dozens of people gathered downtown on Monday to remember those lost to overdose and work toward a future of zero deaths from substance use disorder.

The Berkshire Overdose and Addiction Prevention Collaborative and its partners held a proclamation reading and flag-raising at City Hall, followed by a standout in Park Square with signs promoting the use of naloxone, harm reduction, and reducing associated stigma.

There were 23 fatal overdoses in Berkshire County in 2025, 11 in Pittsfield. This is down 44 percent from the 41 countywide fatalities in 2024.

While it is a significant decrease, advocates want to see that number at zero.

"On the one hand, we're very pleased to see this significant of a decrease. This is actually the lowest number that we've had since [Department of Public Health] started collecting these numbers in 2013, but the goal is still zero," said Andy Ottoson, public health planner with the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission.

August is International Overdose Awareness Month, the world's largest annual campaign to end overdose, remember those lost without stigma, and acknowledge the grief of families and friends left behind. September is National Recovery Month, a national observance to educate the public on the importance of substance use treatment and mental health services.

Samantha Kendall of Berkshire Harm Reduction explained that it is truly meeting people where they are, as they are, and when they are, "and I think we all do a really great job at that."

"We also want to remember that we're building a community for everybody, and systems and policies for everybody. That's really important in harm reduction work, so that's also the reason we're here today," she said.

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