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Category: Regulation

  • Massachusetts: Council Pushes Back on Cigar Hikes

    Massachusetts: Council Pushes Back on Cigar Hikes

    Several city councilors in New Bedford, Massachusetts, are criticizing the mandated increase in cigar prices that are meant to dissuade young smokers, as they are also hurting small businesses. “Minimum cigar pricing” was part of updated tobacco regulations adopted by the Board of Health in October 2024 that went into effect January 1. Councilor Ian Abreu said the fact a cigar that not long ago could have been purchased for $1.25 now costs $2.90 is having a “negative economic impact on our small-business community who retails these products.”

    Massachusetts is one of the most progressive states when it comes to the war on tobacco, allowing each of its 351 cities and towns the authority to enforce a range of laws, regulations, and local codes.

    Abreu said the feedback from local retailers has been overwhelmingly negative and that cigar sales have plummeted, forcing them to raise the prices of other products.

    “These are the unintended consequences that you see when certain legislation and actions like these happen to the small business community here in New Bedford,” Abreu said.

    Another problem is that many retailers say they weren’t notified of the changes.

    “There was a little bit of government overreach, is what I’m hearing,” Councilor Shawn Oliver said. “Now they’re forced to not only raise prices and exile some of their consumers but also possibly eat some inventory and a loss of money. That doesn’t sound like a city that is pro-business to me.”

    Councilors unanimously voted to set up a meeting with health officials and local retailers, as well as a representative of the New England Convenience Store & Energy Marketers Association to discuss the regulations, is what is being called a “noxious environment” for small business.

    “As the expression goes, the road to hell was paved with the best of intentions,” Councilor Leo Choquette said. “I don’t understand where the Board of Health thinks it has the right to interfere in the free market or the economy of this area in that regard.

     “And now you want to do idiotic things like this to drive business owners out who are trying to get by. It’s ridiculous.”

  • Small Business Owners Fighting Denver’s Flavor Ban

    Small Business Owners Fighting Denver’s Flavor Ban

    Phil Guerin, the owner of Myxed Up Creations, a small tobacco, nicotine, and accessory shop that has been operating in Denver since 1992, is leading a fight among small business owners to send the city’s upcoming ban on flavored tobacco products to a vote in November’s election. Previously, the Denver City Council voted 11-1 to ban such products beginning March 18. 

    “We really are advocates for our customers and advocating for doing things in a safe way, and we’ve been able to really stay ahead of these trends,” Guerin said. “But we are not the problem, and we really regret being blamed for this whole situation and we are not big tobacco. We are family-owned businesses that are just trying to survive in an anti-small business climate that’s been created by municipal government.”

    Guerin said he is working with other small business owners around the city, and they have filed the paperwork needed to circulate a petition that would delay the ban until voters could weigh in. He says they have already gathered more than 2,000 of the needed 9,494 valid signatures for the city’s election division to deem the petition sufficient.

    “The greatest thing that’s happened is small businesses across the entire Denver city limits, we’ve all come together,” Guerin said. “Before, we were all kind of rivals and we were all competing against each other, and now we’ve all come together to really fight this misinformation and this ban.

    “We think this will be on the ballot in November and we’re excited for a campaign, and we’re really excited to inform the public because there has been so much bad information put out there about this, [it] is really big tobacco doing this. It’s actually small business people that are being responsible and really trying to do the responsible thing and give adults the right to choose an alternative to smoking cigarettes.”

  • Latvia: Tobacco Sellers Look for Loopholes in New Regulations

    Latvia: Tobacco Sellers Look for Loopholes in New Regulations

    Tobacco sellers in Latvia are reportedly looking for loopholes in the new regulations that go into effect this month, according to Euro News.

    Beginning January 2025, tobacco products, including disposable vapes, refillable e-cigarettes, and nicotine pouches, cannot be sold to individuals under 20 years old, and vaping products can no longer have flavors other than tobacco. The amount of nicotine in nicotine pouches will also be reduced.

    According to Latvijas Televizija, a Latvian public television channel, companies selling refill cartridges are looking for ways to circumvent the new rules and continue selling the same products—some are planning to sell separate bottles of flavoring and nicotine that customers can mix themselves.

    “Certainly, after the new year, there will be alternatives that can be offered to the client, but they will not have such a wide range. Let’s increase the range bit by bit and, after some time, it will definitely be bigger,” said Jakaterina Smirnova, representative of e-cigarette company Ecodumas.

    “I assume that, similarly to other products, relatives and friends who travel will be able to bring them [the banned products] from abroad. Like all illegal things, Telegram trading will probably also develop. And it’s hard to stop,” said Anrijs Matiss, a board member of the Traditional and Smokeless Tobacco Products Association.

    The association estimates a state budget loss of €10 million annually following the new laws.

    The nicotine pouch industry expects that products will disappear from retail shelves, at least temporarily.  

  • Milan Bans Outdoor Smoking

    Milan Bans Outdoor Smoking

    Milan has banned smoking in outdoor and public areas, effective Jan. 1, 2025, reports Euro News.

    The ban includes “all public spaces, including streets” but provides an exception for isolated spaces as long as smokers maintain a distance of at least 10 meters from other people. Those caught violating the ban face fines ranging from €40 to €240.

    The ban aims to improve the city’s air quality and protect the health of citizens from secondhand smoke. Milan is one of Europe’s most polluted cities in terms of air quality.  

    The new law does not apply to electronic cigarettes, however.