Barrington council continues fight for tobacco law change

Barrington aims to raise tobacco purchase age to 21

Posted 12/6/18

Michael Carroll says it is not symbolic — it is not merely a gesture. 

Mr. Carroll said the Barrington Town Council's decision to continue the fight to raise the tobacco purchase age in …

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Barrington council continues fight for tobacco law change

Barrington aims to raise tobacco purchase age to 21

Posted

Michael Carroll says it is not symbolic — it is not merely a gesture. 

Mr. Carroll said the Barrington Town Council's decision to continue the fight to raise the tobacco purchase age in Barrington from 18-years-old to 21 is crucially important and might make the difference in deterring more local teenagers from smoking or vaping.

"This is a public health issue," said Mr. Carroll. 

A while back, the Barrington Town Council passed an ordinance that raised the tobacco purchase age in Barrington from 18 to 21. But the owners of a vape shop on Maple Avenue and a gas station on County Road filed a lawsuit against the ordinance. 

A Superior Court justice struck down the ordinance, but the council has since appealed that decision to the state's Supreme Court.

"We decided unanimously to appeal it," Mr. Carroll said, referring to the council's vote. "That gives you an indication of where we stand on it."

Mr. Carroll said the town council believes strongly in its ordinance. He said the younger someone is when they start smoking, the greater the chance is they will become hooked. 

"If we can stop … teenagers from smoking, we're doing our job," Mr. Carroll said. 

"We believe strongly that it's a fight that's worth losing because it's that important… We think that we can win."

Barrington is not the only town that has taken up the fight to raise the tobacco purchase age. In fact, at a recent meeting, the council signed off on a letter to the Middletown Town Council, which had tried to pass a similar ordinance. Middletown's ordinance was also struck down.

In its letter, the Barrington Town Council applauded Middletown's efforts to "address a threat to the health of your residents and stop the spread of nicotine addiction." The Barrington council cited the sharp increase — nearly 20 percent — in the use of ecigarette devices by teenagers in Rhode Island. 

The council also wrote about a recent article in the Times: "according to an article in the Barrington Times, owners of a local gas station were recruited by an attorney to join the suit against Barrington and told that their participation would cost them nothing… The recruiting of plaintiffs for litigation being funded by an undisclosed third party raises troubling questions about whether the suits against Middletown, Johnston and Barrington are an industry backed effort to prevent local tobacco regulation from having a positive impact in Rhode Island as it did in Massachusetts."

The letter cited Needham, Mass.'s ordinance change in 2005 that raised the tobacco purchase age to 21. It stated that more than 100 other towns in Massachusetts later followed suit, and that the entire Commonwealth eventually made the change a state law. 

"Today, 87,000,000 Americans live in a place where the legal tobacco purchasing age is 21," stated the letter.

Mr. Carroll and other members of the Barrington Town Council feel that the Rhode Island General Assembly would be wise to take up the issue at the state level. Mr. Carroll said the state's inactivity has been very frustrating.

"It hasn't happened, and in the meantime, statistically we're looking at a lot of teenagers who are going to be hooked early on," he said. 

In its letter, the Barrington Town Council said it was determined to pursue a change in the tobacco purchase age.

"We will continue to fight, in the courts and in the legislature, to keep kids from falling victim to an abhorrent addiction and to establish that local governments have the authority to address grave health and safety issues when they arise," stated the letter. 

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