Westminster’s board of health voted 2 to 1 to drop the proposal to ban the sale of all tobacco products within the city limits.
Local businesses opposed the ban that would have made the sale any tobacco or nicotine product that could be “smoked, chewed, absorbed, dissolved, inhaled, snorted, sniffed, or ingested by any other means,” illegal. The owners of these businesses pointed out that residents could go less than two miles to vendors outside of city limits to buy tobacco or nicotine products.
The first town hall meeting discussing the proposed ban drew approximately 500 residents of the town which has a population of 7,000. The majority of the people at the meeting were opposed to the ban and the event got too “unruly” and ended in less than a half an hour.
Local businessman Brian Vincent had collected more than 1,000 signatures against the motion but the meeting was shut down before he could present them. Vincent, a convenience store owner, told Fox News that his store could lose more than $100,000 if the ban had passed.
The board, which is planning simlar electronic cigarette regulations, had initially said the ban would be for the protection of young people, but the opposition was very strong.
“The town is not in favor of the proposal, and therefore I am not in favor of the proposal,” said Ed Simoncini, one of the two dissenting board of health members when he made the motion to drop the ban. “You [town residents] made the difference. It didn't go as smoothly as we would have liked, but thank you.”
Simoncini was joined in the motion by Peter Munro. Andrea Crete, board chairwoman, voted to keep the ban under consideration. After the vote, she told the Boston Globeshe was disappointed.
“I’m disappointed because we were trying to do something good,” Crete said. “We could have made Westminster tobacco-free in the sense children would have no exposure to tobacco at the stores.”
The residents of the town celebrated the decision after the meeting.
“Who do they think they are?” said George Keaveny, a Westminster resident. “You want a beer, you get a beer. You want a cigarette, you get one. That’s the way it works in this country.”