Bill > H1951

This bill, titled "Relative to local Boards of Health and the sale of legal tobacco products in the Commonwealth," aims to limit the authority of local Boards of Health, which are local governmental bodies responsible for public health, by preventing them from banning the sale of tobacco products that are legally permitted to be sold statewide. Specifically, it states that these boards cannot prohibit the community-wide sale of legal tobacco products by authorized retailers, whether wholesale or retail, unless they first obtain approval from the town meeting or city council to enact such a ban through a local by-law. However, the bill clarifies that this restriction does not prevent a Board of Health from taking immediate action in emergency situations, such as addressing a specific brand of tobacco product or a particular location due to a health code violation or other urgent health concern, as long as the action is not simply to ban the legal sale of tobacco.