An increasing number of communities are standing up to bureaucratic charades disguised as public health and saying no to closed-door, blatantly un-democratic maneuvers designed to strip away civil liberties. Stoughton should do the same when the board of health meets on Thursday to consider a generational nicotine ban.

Ashland and Westminster are the latest communities to reject misguided attempts by local health boards to impose “nicotine-free generation” bylaws, which would ban tobacco and nicotine products for anyone born after Jan. 1, 2006. We support communities seeking to reduce smoking and protect youth from buying nicotine, but some towns are using bait-and-switch tactics that trample on democracy and seek to do an end-run around federal regulations. Not only should we not accept such legislative overreach, we should fight back to make sure precedents are not set that could create civil liberty setbacks for generations.

Officials in these towns were right when they recently refused to move forward with NFG proposals, not only because the policy is flawed, but because they recognized they could not allow local boards of health to be co-opted by well-funded activists seeking to exploit and manipulate the system and ram through agenda-driven policies without debate.

At a time when government transparency and accountability is being demanded more and more, it’s refreshing to see communities protect adult rights and the democratic process. Stifling public debate is always wrong. Democracy, as they say, dies in darkness.

The more people learn about the deceptively named Nicotine Free Generation law, the less they like it. The list of communities rejecting NFG is growing, and now includes Bellingham, Worcester, Peabody, Milton, Franklin, Medfield, Lynnfield and Westfield. The fact is, voters are tired of nanny state policies and lawmakers legislating their version of morality, while taking questionable actions that harm small businesses, strip away tax dollars and expand opportunities for criminals to sell unregulated products on the streets and the internet.

When public officials take the time to learn the facts, they are seeing that this is a highly-flawed policy that creates more problems than it solves. NFG does nothing to curb smoking or stop youth smoking and exemplifies government overreach at its most egregious. Other communities considering these absurd policies – including Stoughton – would be wise to reexamine them and put resources into education and awareness rather than impose foolish bans that don’t work.

These misguided prohibitions make for good fear-mongering soundbites but have no impact on smoking rates and serve only to unfairly target adults seeking to purchase legal, federally-regulated products. The federal government set the age of purchase at 21 for tobacco and nicotine, as it is with gambling, cannabis and alcohol, for a reason: because it is accepted that adults are free to choose to purchase legal products, even if they may come with risk.

It is discriminatory and a violation of civil liberties to arbitrarily set prohibition dates to block future generations from being able to buy these legal products. Worse, it won’t work. People subject to these local bans will simply turn to neighboring communities and states, or worse, the internet, to buy their chosen products.

Keeping nicotine and tobacco products in regulated, licensed stores, where IDs are checked and legal compliance is high, protects consumers from purchasing dangerous, uninspected products. The tobacco flavor ban in place in Massachusetts since 2020 has had no impact on smoking rates, but has stripped away hundreds of millions in tax dollars which have simply shifted to New Hampshire, Rhode Island and other neighboring states. Those are vital tax dollars that could have been used for awareness and prevention efforts.

It is ironic that some communities are seeking to circumvent public discourse to strip away adult rights, especially when considering that Massachusetts has historically been on the forefront of protecting rights and liberties. Massachusetts has legalized cannabis and sports gambling, expanded the availability of alcohol licenses, funded free hypodermic needle programs and is constantly pursuing other “harm reduction” policies for hard drugs. Yet on tobacco and nicotine, some want to move Massachusetts in the opposite direction.

Elected officials are not supposed to pick winners and losers. They are supposed to be the stewards of freedom – not gatekeepers of subjective morality. If towns like Ashland and Westminster simply rolled over, boards of health would be free to not only ban tobacco, but also gambling, cannabis and alcohol, and maybe one day caffeine, sugary drinks and fried foods, if they feel public health is at risk. Where does it end?

Kudos to both towns for stopping the madness. Stoughton should follow suit and put a stop to backroom deals and government overstep before it’s too late.

Peter Brennan is the Executive Director of the New England Convenience Store and Energy Marketers Association