“One in three people that try nicotine products will become addicted”

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:

"A local petition calls for the town Board of Health to institute a policy in which the sale of flavored tobacco and nicotine products be restricted to so-called “vape” stores that only those 21 and older can enter. 

The petition, started by Westwood-Mansfield Pediatric Associates, seeks 200 signatures, although it is non-binding. Health board members discussed the topic during regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday. 

“We have always been working for the greater cause,” said Chairman Donald Ranieri. “As usual, our priority is the health of the people in the town of Franklin. That’s why we’re here.” 

Currently, flavored tobacco and nicotine products are also sold at several convenience stores and gas stations in town. Owners either failed to respond or declined to comment on queries made by a Daily News reporter on the subject."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20181206/franklin-petition-takes-aim-at-flavored-tobacco


The text of the petition at Change.org created by Dr. Lester Hartman, Westwood-Mansfield Pediatrics:

"As parents of children in the Town of Franklin, we insist that our Board of Health restrict flavored nicotine and tobacco products immediately, only allowing their sale in smoke and vape shops that are 21+ to enter. We do not want our children exposed to these dangerous and addictive products when they go into our local convenience stores. 

Across the state, 136 Boards of Health covering over 59% of the State's population have signed onto this flavored nicotine and tobacco restriction. 

Given the current nicotine addiction epidemic in our middle and high schools, it is this Board's duty to look out for our children and attempt to remedy this situation."

https://www.change.org/p/franklin-board-of-health-town-of-franklin-restrict-the-sale-of-flavored-nicotine-products-to-smoke-vape-shops

“One in three people that try nicotine products will become addicted”

“We need purchase, possession and use laws, but no one wants to talk about it.”

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:

"The effort to increase the tobacco sales age limit to 21 years will undoubtedly cut into the revenue of convenience stores, including the 7-Eleven in Quincy that Dennis Lane has owned for 44 years. 

The loss would be unfortunate for business, he said, but it’s not why he’s against increasing the age. 

“Raising age limits redefines the age that somebody becomes an adult,” said Lane, who doesn’t smoke. “If you’re adult enough to pick up a rifle and protect this country, then you’re obviously adult enough to make the decision about whether or not to smoke.” 

As Massachusetts inches closer to becoming one of a handful of states in which - like alcohol - you must be at least 21 years old to buy a pack of cigarettes, debate has ensued related to health, personal freedom and shared responsibility."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20180615/as-massachusetts-mulls-changing-smoking-age-to-21-questions-remain

"95 percent of adults who smoke started smoking before the age of 21"

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:

"House lawmakers voted Wednesday raise the statewide age for purchasing tobacco and e-cigarettes to 21 and to ban vaping from workplaces. 

The bill (H 4479), which passed 146-4, next heads to the Senate, which passed similar legislation last session. 

Pharmacies would also be barred from selling tobacco products under the bill, which received strong bipartisan support. Many pharmacies have already removed cigarettes from their shelves, and 175 cities and towns have raised their tobacco purchase age up from 18 – the minimum age statewide, according to the Cancer Action Network. 

Cigarettes and other addictive and harmful tobacco products have long posed public health quandaries, and electronic cigarettes – which deliver to the user a heated vapor that often includes nicotine – have become popular more recently, especially among young people."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20180509/increase-of-tobacco-purchasing-age-to-age-21-easily-clears-house

FHS students with Rep Jeff Roy at the State House (Facebook photo via Catherine Moran)
earlier this year when the students were lobbying for this bill

In the News: Cantoreggi ran for moderator; State may raise tobacco age to 21

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:

"The town has a new town moderator in Erin Underhill following Monday’s annual town election. 

Underhill won the posting with 408 votes over challenger Brutus Cantoreggi’s 346. The contest was the only one on this year’s ballot. 

“I wanted to say thanks for all your support,” she wrote on her Erin Underhill for Millis Town Moderator Facebook page Monday night. “I’m so excited to be the next Town Moderator in Millis.”

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20180509/millis-elects-underhill-for-town-moderator

"Nearly 70 percent of the state’s population lives in communities that have adopted local policies raising their tobacco-buying age to 21, and a bill teed up for Wednesday’s House session would extend that age hike statewide. 

Along with raising the minimum age for purchasing tobacco products from its current 18, the bill would impose new regulations on e-cigarettes, including banning their use in places where state law already prohibits smoking. It would also prohibit the sale of tobacco products by pharmacies. 

With the Senate last session overwhelmingly backing a bill to accomplish the same goals and more than half of House lawmakers supporting a version this session, the bill stands a good chance of making it to the desk of Gov. Charlie Baker, who is “conceptually” supportive of the age increase."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20180508/massachusetts-may-raise-age-to-purchase-tobacco

In the News: FHS students advocate for Tobacco21; more info on Acrylamide

From the Milford Daily News, an article of interest for Franklin

"One group of Franklin High School girls is a leading youth voice in state government’s decision to raise the tobacco age to 21. 

The pending Tobacco21 bill would raise the legal age to purchase tobacco products to 21, an issue that a group of Franklin students has been lobbying for since last year. Currently, about 180 municipalities across Massachusetts have already made this change. The legislation will force all 351 cities and towns on board. 

The students returned to the Statehouse again on Wednesday, but with a much more active role. They filmed and showed a video of their testimonies, before a formal ceremony in front of a large audience at the bottom of the grand staircase in the Statehouse. 

Advocates, legislators, senators, and others gathered to hear the Franklin High Students plead their case for this bill."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20180330/franklin-students-lobby-for-raising-tobacco-age

FHS students with Rep Jeff Roy at the State House (Facebook photo via Catherine Moran)

"Trouble is brewing for coffee lovers in California, where a judge ruled that sellers must post scary warnings about cancer risks. But how frightened should we be of a daily cup of joe? Not very, some scientists and available evidence seem to suggest. 

Scientific concerns about coffee have eased in recent years, and many studies even suggest it can help health. 

“At the minimum, coffee is neutral. If anything, there is fairly good evidence of the benefit of coffee on cancer,” said Dr. Edward Giovannucci, a nutrition expert at the Harvard School of Public Health. 

The World Health Organization’s cancer agency moved coffee off the “possible carcinogen” list two years ago, though it says evidence is insufficient to rule out any possible role."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/zz/news/20180330/coffee-and-cancer-risk-what-you-should-know

"not everyone praised the regulations"

Smoking will no longer be allowed at private membership clubs after April 1, when new Board of Health tobacco regulations go into effect. 

Despite opposition from the Franklin Rod & Gun Club, the board adopted the regulation on Tuesday as well as several more restricting the sale of tobacco products in town. 

Beginning April 1, stores, under the regulations, won’t be able to sell blunt wraps — flavored tobacco rolling papers — and four packs of cigars priced under $2.50, aimed at curbing the number of teenage smokers in town.

See more at: http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20140205/NEWS/140208530/1994/NEWS#sthash.feEOkjVS.dpuf

Franklin, MA - Municipal Building

The proposed (now approved) tobacco regulations can be found on the Franklin webpage here
http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_HealthNews/01C7D47D-000F8513



Prior posts on the regulations as they were announced and discussed at the public meeting in January
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2014/01/single-cigars-account-for-about-80.html

http://www.franklinmatters.org/2014/01/regulations-tighten-towns-rules-on.html

http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/12/the-regulations-tighten-towns-rules-on.html

Franklin's Board of Health revises proposed tobacco regulations

More Massachusetts towns have enacted tobacco regulations in the past two years than in the history of the state’s anti-tobacco campaign, adopting new restrictions largely aimed at how businesses can sell such products. 

Since 2012, 12 communities, including Ashland, have raised the legal purchase age for tobacco products beyond 18. Fifty cities and towns ban the sale of blunt wraps, and 39 have set a minimum price for cigars. 

Town health boards have the power to pass the regulations without approval from Town Meeting or a higher governing body. 

Anti-tobacco activists, doctors and advisers, attend Board of Health meetings and public hearings both to offer up statistics pointing to the health hazards of smoking and to present model regulations that communities mold to their circumstances.

See more at: http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20140126/NEWS/140127129#sthash.zRK3Gw5Q.dpuf


Franklin's Board of Health is among those looking to make changes, The proposed revisions can be found here  http://www.franklinmatters.org/2014/01/regulations-tighten-towns-rules-on.html

The public hearing held at the January meeting resulted in the regulations being tabled to a future meeting without a decision at that time.
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2014/01/single-cigars-account-for-about-80.html

Franklin Municipal Building

The proposed regulations (link provided above) have been revised and the new set posted to the Franklin website as of 1/23/14.
http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_HealthNews/01C7D47D-000F8513


The old set is no longer on the Board of Health page. You can find the old set on the Franklin Matters page. The new set is shown here:





Visit the Franklin Board of Health page on the town website here
http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_Health/index


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Updated: I printed both the old set of proposed regulations and the new set to walk through the document line by line, page by page to find the changes. This is what I find:

• Definition add for "Retail Tobacco Store"
• Section 4.1 - changed date from Feb 1 to April 1, 2014
• Section 4.2 - changed date from Feb 1 to April 1, 2014
• Section 4.3 - changed age from 21 to 18
• Section 7.1 - added language to create an exception for in-store humidors
• Section 15 - changed date from Feb 1 to April 1, 2014

If you find that there are changes that I missed, please let me know.

"regulations tighten the town’s rules on smoking in public places"

The proposed regulations are set for a public hearing today at 10:00 AM.

The Board of Health’s public hearing on new tobacco regulations, written by Health Director David McKearney, is set for Tuesday. 

The three-member board will meet at 10 a.m. at the Municipal Building, 355 East Central St. 

The regulations call for raising the legal age to purchase tobacco products to 19 and establish a tobacco and nicotine delivery products permit, administered by the board. The town has never had a local tobacco permit, though businesses selling tobacco products must still acquire a license from the state Department of Revenue.

Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/blog/healthconscious/x407166500/Franklin-Board-of-Health-hearing-on-tobacco-regs-slated#ixzz2phzM2RNJ

You can read the proposed regulations here:




Or find this document on the Franklin Board of Health webpage
http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_HealthNews/01C3F009-000F8513 

(Note: The BoH revised their proposed regulations and posted the new set (1/23/14), took down the old. You'll need to figure out what the difference between the two sets are, there are no revision marking on the new document.)
http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_HealthNews/01C7D47D-000F8513

"the regulations tighten the town’s rules on smoking in public places"

The Milford Daily News reports on the public hearing being set up for Jan 7th to review proposed new tobacco regulations for Franklin.

The Board of Health will hold a public hearing next month on whether to pass comprehensive new tobacco regulations. 

The three-member board scheduled the hearing for its Jan. 7 meeting, set to begin at 10 a.m. at the Municipal Building, 355 East Central St. Health Director David McKearney wrote the proposed regulations. 

If passed, the controls would reshape how the town handles tobacco sales, raising the legal age to purchase tobacco products to 19 and establishing a tobacco and nicotine delivery products permit, administered by the board. Currently the town does not have a local tobacco permit for businesses, which still must acquire a license from the state Department of Revenue in order to sell cigarettes and other tobacco products.

Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/blog/healthconscious/x915450461/Franklin-Public-hearing-set-for-new-tobacco-regulations#ixzz2mnGuTbfg

Franklin Elks - BPOE 2136

The membership and association clubs such as the American Legion and Elks would also be included in the new regulations to ban smoking within their facilities.

I would hope that there would also be a hearing scheduled for some evening as any of the voters/residents who work during normal business hours are disenfranchised by this particular time of day for the 'public hearing.'