Boston rule targets cigar sales to youth

In February, Boston began enforcing a health regulation that places conditions on the sale of inexpensive, single cigars, which are popular with minors even though selling any tobacco product to a person under age 18 is prohibited by state law.

According to data collected by the Boston Public Health Commission, teenagers have been able to purchase some individual cigars for a dollar or less – sometimes for as little as 49 cents. And while state law prohibits selling cigarettes in packs of fewer than 20, there is no such restriction on the sale of cigars. Both factors make the products attractive to youths.

Surveys also indicate that the single cigars are popular among teenagers because they come in a variety of flavors, including liquor, fruit and candy.

Boston’s 2010 Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that “cigars, cigarillos, or little cigars” are about 50 percent more popular among high school students than standard cigarettes. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control noted in its 2009 “Youth Risk Behavior, Surveillance Summaries” that the percentage of high school students in Massachusetts who reported the use of cigars within the past 30 days went from 11.8 percent in 2003 to 14.9 percent in 2009.

The Boston regulation requires inexpensive cigars be sold in original packs of four or more, or, if sold in smaller quantities, at a cost of at least $2.50 per cigar. The city reports that approximately half of tobacco retailers have chosen to continue to sell single cigars at the higher price, with the other half choosing to sell cigars only in packs of four or more.

The Boston regulation exempts tobacco distributors who do not sell products at retail locations within the city as well as qualifying “retail tobacco stores.” In practice, the regulations do not affect premium cigar packaging or pricing, since these products are rarely priced under $2.50 each.

Eight other cities and towns – Bedford, Buckland, Middleton, Montague, Rochester, Salem, Saugus and Westport – have enacted similar regulations, all of which will take effect in 2013. While these regulations will mimic Boston’s price and pack minimums, some have chosen not to offer the exemption to retail tobacco stores in order to create a level playing field for other establishments that sell tobacco.

Youth Risk Behavior Surveys are conducted jointly by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Department of Public Health in randomly selected high schools throughout the state in odd-numbered years.  Survey results to identical questions about tobacco use may be available in school districts of municipalities interested in pursuing a regulation similar to Boston’s.

For more information, contact D.J. Wilson at the MMA.