Governor Baker has some reading to do

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

"A ban on flavored tobacco and tax on e-cigarettes, a $1.5 billion public education funding overhaul, and a new attempt to crack down on distracted driving all landed on Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk as lawmakers wrapped up their formal business of the year.

His immediate response to all three proposals: no major objections but he wants to read the bills.

Baker has supported parts of each bill or filed his own similar versions, but it remains unclear whether the governor will sign any of the legislation sent to him, return something with a proposed amendment or veto a proposal. In separate public comments Thursday, Baker declined to outline his plans explicitly."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20191121/baker-no-major-objection-to-bills


The Student Opportunity Act
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2019/11/massachusetts-legislature-votes-to.html

Distracted Driving
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2019/11/massachusetts-legislature-passes.html

Flavored Tobacco Ban
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2019/11/ma-senate-passes-landmark-legislation.html

The Senate also passed a plastic bag ban on their last day of work in this session but it still needs to be reconciled with the House version before going to the Governor.

MA Senate Passes Landmark Legislation To Ban Flavored Tobacco, Protect Young People From Nicotine Addiction

The Massachusetts State Senate early Thursday morning gave final approval to landmark legislation to reduce youth access to tobacco and nicotine products. In the wake of widespread increases in youth vaping, this bill offers a comprehensive approach to protecting young people from nicotine use and addiction. An Act Modernizing Tobacco Control bans the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including menthol; institutes a 75 percent excise tax on e- cigarettes and e-liquids; and expands health coverage for tobacco-use cessation products and counseling.

“I would like to thank Senator John Keenan for his diligent work on moving this issue forward, including his tireless efforts to educate his Senate colleagues and members of the public,” stated Senate President Karen E. Spilka (D – Ashland). “While we continue to learn more about the dangers of vaping, it is absolutely our responsibility to prevent marketing of vaping products, which we know to be harmful, to our children. We must also make it less appealing for young people to take up smoking, which often leads to a lifetime of addiction, serious health consequences, and death. By increasing access to smoking cessation programs, the Senate is reaffirming its commitment to our residents in their efforts to quit smoking and tobacco products altogether.”

“For far too long, Big Tobacco has targeted our kids with flavored products,” said Senator John Keenan (D – Quincy), lead sponsor of the legislation to ban flavored tobacco products. “By banning the sale of the flavored products that attract young people, implementing a 75 percent excise tax on e-cigarettes, and expanding coverage of cessation treatment, we are telling Big Tobacco their days of hooking kids in Massachusetts are over. Hopefully, this effort will serve as

a roadmap for the rest of the country. I am proud to stand with my colleagues in the Massachusetts Legislature in passing this landmark legislation.”

"Senator Keenan led the way in the Senate on this issue, and the result is a very strong bill that addresses vaping and tobacco use in the Commonwealth as the public health crisis that it is,” said Senator Joanne Comerford (D – Northampton), Senate Chair of the Committee on Public Health. “Among the recent deaths from vaping was a woman from my district. The data has shown us just how to tackle this issue head on. We know that 81 percent of young people report that their first tobacco product was flavored. Today the Senate is meeting this epidemic with bold legislation, ensuring that the next generation can breathe easier."

“Across the communities in our Commonwealth and especially in our high schools, youth vaping has reached epidemic levels, and it’s vital for the protection of our youth and of our public health that we ban the sale of flavored cigarettes and vaping products,” said Senator Jason Lewis (D – Winchester), Senate Chair of the Education Committee and past Chair of the Public Health Committee. “The predatory tobacco industry uses ‘fun’ flavors like mango and cotton candy, cheap prices and hip social media marketing to target our youth and hook them with a lifelong addiction to their harmful products.”

“When I was young, there was a concerted and twisted effort to hook as many young people as possible on cigarettes. I see that effort reborn today: different, but all too similar,” said Senator Harriette L. Chandler (D – Worcester), Senate President Emerita. “I am proud that the Massachusetts Senate has taken a stand for the public health of our youngest constituents. We will not allow our children to be abused by nefarious attempts to addict entire new generations to nicotine.”

“Massachusetts has led the way on tobacco use cessation for decades, but that success suffered a setback in recent years thanks to the emergence of vaping, leading to rising rates of nicotine addiction in young people,” said State Senator Julian Cyr (D – Truro), Chair of the Committee on Substance Use, Mental Health, and Recovery. “The legislation we passed today puts the Commonwealth in the vanguard by banning the very flavored tobacco products designed by Big Tobacco to addict a new generation on nicotine. As someone who’s spent much of my career in public health, I am proud of the Senate’s leadership to prevent our youngest residents from ever getting hooked.”

While the Commonwealth has made significant progress in preventing youth smoking rates in the last two decades, youth use of e-cigarettes and vaping products has increased dramatically. The 2017 Massachusetts Youth Health Survey reported over 20 percent of high school students were currently vaping–a rate six times that of adult use. More recent reports put estimates on youth e- cigarette use closer to 27 percent.

An Act Modernizing Tobacco Control specifically targets the sale of flavored tobacco products because they have historically been used to attract young people. Flavored cigarettes were banned by the federal government in 2009 as part of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. However, that law did not apply to other tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, which come

in over 8,000 flavors with youth appeal such as ‘gummy bear,’ cotton candy, fruit punch, mint and menthol.

The legislation bans the sale of all flavors, including menthol, for all tobacco products including cigarettes, e-cigarettes, chewing tobacco, cigars, pipe tobacco, and snuff. Youth smokers remain the age group most likely to smoke mentholated cigarettes, and menthol smoking prevalence now exceeds non-menthol smoking prevalence among both young and young adult smokers.

“We applaud the Massachusetts Senate for taking an important step in protecting future generations of Massachusetts residents from a lifetime of tobacco addiction,” said Allyson Perron Drag, Government Relations Director for the American Heart Association in Massachusetts. “The easy availability of menthol cigarettes, flavored cigars, flavored hookah and kid-friendly, e- cigarette flavors is causing an increase in youth tobacco use of epic proportion. The removal of all flavors from all tobacco products is essential for reducing their appeal to our children. We thank Senate President Spilka, Senator Keenan, Senator Chandler, Senator Cyr, Senator Lewis, and Senator Comerford for their leadership in protecting all kids in the Commonwealth.”

“While Massachusetts has long been at the forefront in this area, thanks to the Senate’s action today, we are poised to lead the nation by passing legislation that would prohibit the sale of all flavored tobacco products, keeping these deadly products out of the hands of our kids,” said Marc Hymovitz, Director Government Relations Director for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network in Massachusetts. “ACS CAN commends Senate President Karen Spilka, Senator John Keenan, Senator Harriette Chandler, Senator Julian Cyr, Senator Jason Lewis and their colleagues for taking this historic vote that will truly save lives.”

The bill also institutes a 75 percent excise tax on both e-cigarettes and e-liquids. Taxing tobacco products is a proven method of decreasing youth use and this bill will bring the sales price of e- cigarettes to near parity with cigarette prices.

The bill will expand health insurance coverage for tobacco cessation so that people have access to the products and counseling necessary to quit nicotine. The bill requires coverage of at least one cessation product without prior authorization for MassHealth, Group Insurance Commission, and private insurance members.

Further provisions regarding e-cigarettes and vape products were included in the bill to regulate this growing market, including: expanding oversight of the Department of Revenue to include e- cigarette retailers; limiting the sale of e-cigarette products with nicotine content higher than 20 milligrams per milliliter to adult-only stores; and establishing penalties for the illegal distribution of e-cigarettes.

Tobacco use and nicotine addiction remain the leading causes of preventable illness and premature death in Massachusetts. Each year, more than 9,300 people die from tobacco use across the state and smoking-related illnesses are responsible for more than $4 billion in annual healthcare costs to the Commonwealth.

After reconciling similar legislation passed by the Massachusetts House of Representatives, a final compromise bill now advances to the Governor’s desk.

In the News: minimum age for tobacco products becomes 21; MA cabinet level get pay raise

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

Minimum age for tobacco now 21

"Nearly 14 years after Needham became the first town in the country to ban tobacco sales to people under 21, the higher purchase age for cigarettes and other tobacco products will kick in across the state on Monday. 

Gov. Charlie Baker in July signed a bill imposing new restrictions on tobacco products in Massachusetts, with an effective date of Dec. 31, 2018. 

Along with raising the minimum age for buying tobacco products from its current 18, the law prohibits the sale of tobacco products by pharmacies and bans the use of e-cigarettes in places where state law already prohibits smoking. 

The use of tobacco products including e-cigarettes will also be prohibited on the grounds of any public or private primary, secondary, or vocational school."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20181229/minimum-age-for-buy-tobacco-jumps-to-21-on-monday

For additional information on the minimum age for tobacco products
https://www.mass.gov/massachusetts-tobacco-cessation-and-prevention-program-mtcp

https://twitter.com/MakeSmkngHistry

Governor's cabinet get pay raise

"Chief Human Resources Officer Ronald Arigo outlined the raises, which are effective Jan. 1, in a memo to the secretaries and their chiefs of staff and human resources directors Friday, a day after salary increases for lawmakers and constitutional officers were announced. 

The 5.5 percent raise will bring the salary for cabinet secretaries up to $170,405.71 from the current $161,522. 

Agency heads and commissioners will not be eligible for the pay hike if they entered their role on or after Jan. 2, 2018. Acting or interim appointees and 120-day appointees are ineligible, Arigo wrote. 

Most members of Baker’s office will also receive the same 5.5 percent increase effective next Tuesday, with recent hires ineligible. According to the governor’s office, staff there have not received the merit pay increases other executive branch managers received over the past four years."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20181229/bakers-cabinet-secretaries-others-to-see-55-percent-raises

“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


----------

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.'