NORTHAMPTON — The Northampton Board of Health accepted a draft of its “Restricting the Sales of Tobacco Products and Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems Regulation” document, which means a public hearing will be conducted on the document at the board’s Nov. 21 meeting.
The document, which is usually updated every couple of years, features minor changes overall, but includes a proposal to move oral nicotine pouches to adult-only stores.
The pouches that the draft document references contain nicotine, water, flavorings, sweeteners and plant-base fibers, and are intended to be placed in your mouth between one’s gum and lip for up to an hour.
Health officials across some municipalities, including those in Northampton, are concerned about the growing popularity of these pouches, especially amongst the youth population.
“Nicotine pouches are one of the fastest growing products we’ve seen in in the tobacco products universe,” said Lisa Stevens-Goodnight, the tobacco control director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association, during the Oct. 17 Northampton Board of Health meeting. “They’re taking more and more shelf space.”
Stevens-Goodnight, along with Cheryl Sbarra, the executive director and senior staff attorney of the Massachusetts Association of Health Boards, recommended this new regulation to the Northampton Board of Health during the September and October meetings.
“We’re saying restrict them to adult-only stores until we get more evidence on the health effects,” Sbarra said, regarding the pouches, during the Sept. 19 meeting. “But at least get them away from the youth that are purchasing them. These products are so popular that you cannot find them in some convenience stores because they can’t manufacture them fast enough.”
Stevens-Goodnight told the board that there is not a ton of data yet on the pouches, but there is still concern about the high milligram count they contain as well as their accessibility and affordability.
She noted that she has seen up to 25 or 30 milligrams in a single pouch as they have grown more popular.
“That’s really concerning,” Stevens-Goodnight said. “Those are very high in comparison the approved cessation devices or products. For example, Nicorette gum comes in 2 and 4 milligram dosages.”
The proposal to move these pouches to adult-only stores is drawing ire from New England Convenience Store and Energy Marketers Association.
The organization, which represents thousands of convenience stores across New England, released a statement and reasons why they are against the restriction of the sale of pouches, arguing that removing nicotine pouches from gas stations and convenience stores in Northampton will create a substantial hardship on adult nicotine users.
“Oral nicotine pouches are considered less risky products than many other tobacco products, and consumers are adopting them to replace, in whole or in part, their use of these other products higher on that continuum of risk recognized by the FDA,” the organization’s statement reads. “Discouraging nicotine pouch use by removing them from most retailers frustrates this movement from higher risk to lower risk tobacco and nicotine products.”
NECSEMA also argued that by accepting this proposal, Northampton is fixing a problem that does not exist. The organization noted that 1.8% of youth nationwide has used nicotine pouches in the last 30 days, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That same study, however, which was published Oct. 17, noted that sales of nicotine pouches have increased rapidly in the U.S. According to Global Market Insights Inc., the nicotine pouches industry is projected to witness a compound annual growth rate of 17.5% during the period of 2024-2032.
Stevens-Goodnight said that by adopting this proposal, adults can still find the pouches at the four adult stores in Northampton, but the pouches would effectively be out of reach of the youth population.
“We don’t want to cut adults off from these completely, but we do want to make sure that youth access is further limited from just the retail environment,” Stevens-Goodnight said.
The board hopes to have this updated document with the oral nicotine pouches proposal signed with an effective date of Jan. 1.
Nicotine-free generation policy
The Northampton Board of Health is also considering a “nicotine-free generation” policy, which would ban any tobacco sales in the city to anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 2004.
The aim of a policy such as this is to prevent future generations from the devastating harm caused by tobacco products.
Because of how drastic of a change this would be, the board is planning to host meetings and hearings to get the word out to the public before voting on anything.
Readers can learn more about that proposal by reading past Reminder Publishing coverage: https://tinyurl.com/mv5e8c2c.
