Massachusetts Retailers Against Raising Tobacco Buying Age

More than a dozen local communities have ordinances prohibiting tobacco sales to people under 21 or 19.

March 16, 2016

BOSTON – Lawmakers are considering raising the Massachusetts smoking age to 21, thus eliminating the current patchwork of different ages in the state, the Gloucester Times reports. The proposal would also regulate electronic cigarettes as tobacco products.

The proposed rules have frustrated convenience store owners. “It’s really going to hurt convenience stores,” Massachusetts Retailers Association President Jon Hurst said. “They don’t make much money on tobacco, but smokers also buy milk and other groceries, and this would cut down on traffic.”

At $3.51 per pack, the state’s cigarette taxes rank it second in the nation behind New York, pushing many Massachusetts residents to purchase smokes in New Hampshire, with its lower cigarette tax rate of $1.78 per pack.

Retailers point out that a statewide higher smoking age would drive even more customers to border states. “We’re already getting hit pretty hard as it is, and it’s very difficult for us to compete with New Hampshire,” said Jon Harris, manager of the Tobacco Shack in Newbury, which has a smoking age of 18. “This would be a double whammy.”

California recently approved raising its tobacco buying age to 21, although Gov. Jerry Brown hasn’t signed the bill into law yet. Read more about increased age limits for tobacco purchases in the March issue of NACS Magazine.

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