Communities turn to capping tobacco sales permits

While few limitations have been placed on acquiring a local tobacco sales permit, and the number of tobacco retailers has steadily declined since the beginning of the state’s tobacco control program, some cities and towns have recently instituted caps on permits in order to limit youth exposure to tobacco products and to prevent clusters of tobacco retailers in low-income neighborhoods.
 
Studies show that the number of retailers in a municipality has a direct impact on the exposure of youths to tobacco industry sales tactics, including advertising. Increased exposure to tobacco sales and advertising tends to “normalize” smoking.
 
It is also well known that tobacco retailers tend to congregate in lower-income neighborhoods. While policy attempts have been made to reduce tobacco vendor density in these neighborhoods, the risk of a lawsuit is high.
 
Of the 288 Massachusetts cities and towns – representing 97 percent of the state’s residents – that require local permits to sell tobacco products, 78 have instituted a cap that provides for a maximum number of permits to be issued.
 
Two common policy variations exist. A basic cap limits the number of permits that can be issued. When the cap has been reached, the municipality starts a waiting list for the next available permit. The second type of cap permanently retires a tobacco sales permit when a retailer closes a store or decides not sell tobacco products, effectively reducing the total permits by one when this occurs.
 
The caps include language to allow a permit to be passed from seller to buyer for retail establishments that sell tobacco. An additional condition requires permit holders to renew in a timely fashion or risk losing their permit if the cap has been reached.
 
There is no set formula for determining a local cap number. Using Department of Public Health tobacco retailer density numbers as guidance, most cities and towns take their current number of permits and add one or two to ensure that any business in the process of opening as a tobacco retailer is not prevented from doing so.
 
The intent of the policy is to reduce the density of tobacco retailers in a slow, measured way. In some cases, density reduction will occur due to the population growing while the number of tobacco permits remains constant.
 
Most tobacco retailers in Massachusetts are convenience stores and gas stations. Local officials might consider weighing the public health benefits of reducing tobacco outlets against the number of jobs – mostly part-time and low-wage – that additional convenience stores would bring to the local economy.
 
Current tobacco sales permit holders may actually favor a cap, as it limits their competition. A cap also makes their permit a more valuable commodity, which may motivate them to protect it by complying with local tobacco sales measures that benefit public health. For more information, contact D.J. Wilson at the MMA.