Retailer groups propose regulations

A coalition of retailer groups is proposing changes to tobacco regulations to curb youth tobacco use, but some public health officials say it is not the correct approach.

The Coalition for Responsible Retailing, which is comprised of the New England Convenience Store Association, New England Service Station & Auto Repair Association, the Retailers Association of Massachusetts and the National Association of Tobacco Outlets, is reaching out to boards of health with its set of proposed regulations that seek to reduce youth access to tobacco through friends, parents and other people.

Matt LeLacheur, of the service station association, said statistics show most youth are not getting tobacco products directly from a retailer.

“The bigger problem is others are purchasing for minors,” LeLacheur said. “This is a large conversation not even being had. It’s time for boards of health to have the conversation.”

The coalition is proposing regulations that would make it illegal for parents to provide tobacco products to underage children, impose a fine on adults who provide tobacco products to minors and implement civil fines for underage people in possession of tobacco or nicotine delivery products, among other steps.

"The regulation this group is proposing is a red herring created by an industry that seeks to avoid further regulation of its deadly products," Cheryl Sbarra of the Massachusetts Association of Health Boards wrote in a letter on the association's Facebook page. "The industry knows that policies which address the accessibility and appeal of tobacco products to youth combat the real problem: a tobacco industry that is constantly finding ways to attract new smokers."

Sbarra said retailers must ensure they do not sell to minors. Kids, who have been targeted with flashy advertisements, flavored products and cheap prices, should not face that responsibility, she wrote.

Boards of health around the state have looked at a different set of regulations that seek to reduce access to flavored tobacco products, increase prices for cheap products and take other steps to make tobacco less attractive to youth. Those represent best practices and have been updated over the years, said DJ Wilson, the tobacco control director for the Massachusetts Municipal Association.

Wilson said boards can pick what regulations to adopt.

Wilson said tobacco products people obtain in Massachusetts pass at some point through retailers, with a small amount from Internet sales.

“When you see a kid coming down the street with a grape cigar, he didn’t make it at home,” Wilson said.

He said tobacco companies focus on advertising at retailers through packaging and pricing since they cannot advertise on television.

Wilson said officials are also working on ways to stem the flow of tobacco from friends to friends and adults to youth.

He said assessing a fine for possession to a kid who is already addicted is not the best course of action. It won’t help a kid quit. And, some communities who have that policy have found it difficult to enforce, he said.

Ashland Board of Health Chairwoman Mary Mortenson said she worries it would be difficult to enforce regulations that cover what happens after a sale.

Ashland’s board has restricted sales of flavored tobacco products, raised the minimum age to purchase tobacco to 21 and taken other steps in line with regulations like Wilson supports.

Natick’s Board of Health is currently considering those types of regulations, but has not made a decision. Some representatives of local stores told the board at a hearing last month that they were OK with raising the minimum age to purchase tobacco from 18 to 21 but worried removing products from their shelves will drive customers away. Those customers come to the store for more than just tobacco.

Natick Public Health Director Jim White said he will provide his board with the suggested regulations that LeLacheur supports. The board is slated to discuss tobacco regulations again Monday.

LeLacheur said his coalition’s proposed regulations are a response to the regulations boards of health have considered.

“It’s a response as well to the patchwork regulation,” he said. “It really makes it hard for retailers across the commonwealth.”

LeLacheur said having different regulations in different municipalities is challenging for retailers with stores in multiple communities. Some employees may work in multiple stores that fall under different regulations, he said.

LeLacheur said stores that sell to people underage should be penalized. But, he wondered what more the vast majority of stores that follow the rules and do not sell to minors can do.

The coalition’s regulations are “an attempt to try and solve that problem (of youth access to tobacco) where the root cause actually is,” he said.

Brian Benson can be reached at 508-626-3964 or bbenson@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @bbensonmwdn.