Prohibition Comes in Many Forms on the Local Level

Short of proposing outright prohibition, legislative proposals at the local level have sought to enact restrictive regulations that are equivalent to prohibition. There are an increasing number of examples of regulations so restrictive that retailers are forced to no longer sell certain tobacco products. 

 

One kind of regulation is to outright ban the sale of all tobacco products in pharmacies. Another method used is to prohibit the sale of flavored tobacco products at every kind of retail store that sells tobacco products. However, in some instances, age-restricted tobacco stores are granted an exemption to continue to sell flavored tobacco products because underage youth are not permitted in the store.

 

In Massachusetts, a number of local boards of health have considered and a growing number have adopted minimum cigar package size restrictions plus minimum cigar pricing requirements. For example, the most common form of restriction is to ban the sale of cigars in packages of less than five unless each cigar that is sold singly, or in a two-pack, three-pack or four-pack has a minimum price of $2.50 per cigar. This means that a single cigar would have a minimum retail price of $2.50, a two-pack would need to sell for no less than $5.00, a three-pack would be priced at $7.50 or higher, and a four-pack would cost at least $10.00.  

 

These minimum prices result in retailers removing numerous cigar products from store shelves because adult customers travel a short distance to a nearby city or town and purchase their preferred cigar products at regular, lower prices rather than pay the higher minimum prices. In other words, the setting of high minimum prices is in effect prohibiting cigar products from being sold. The loss of cigar sales is magnified since the customers who no longer patronize a store because of the high prices also no longer purchase gas, soft drinks, snacks and other products as well.

 

All of these proposals have one thing in common, namely, in some form or another, taking away the right to sell tobacco products and therefore the right of adults to purchase tobacco products. Moreover, the number of local tobacco ordinances being considered across the country has increased substantially over the past three years and there is no sign that the proliferation of proposed local tobacco regulations will decline in the near future.

 

This is why it is vitally important for retailers to become engaged and take action when their local government body seeks to impose the kind of restrictions on selling tobacco products that would lead to prohibition. Setting minimum prices of tobacco products is only one step in the on-going effort by various advocates to further restrict and ultimately prohibit the sale of all tobacco products.